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COPyniGilT DEPOSIT. 



A PROJECT BOOK IN 

BUSINESS ENGLISH 



BY 



LUELLA BUSSEY COOK 




NEW YORK 
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 



i 






Copyright, 1020, 

BY 

Henry Holt and Company 



^ \.y^ 



OCl -9 1920 
©CU576848 



TO 

A. C. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Business of Going to School 1 

The meaning of "businesslike." — The parallel 
between school and business. — Earning wages and 
earning school credits. — A business Code for 
the classroom. — Making a business of accuracy. 

— Making a business of learning to write. — 
Making the classroom a businessUke place. 

II. Imagination in Business 20 

The practical business value of imagination. — 
Imagination redeems routine. — Observation the 
basis of imagination. — Originality. — The place 
of originaUty in business. 

III. The Positive Attitude of Mind 46 

The need in business of independent judgment. 

— The power to convince. — Understanding the 
issue. — What constitutes proof. — Two kinds 
of evidence. — Logical inference. — Reasoning 
by analogy. — The Brief. — Parliamentary law. 

IV. Better English for the Business Student 69 

The relation between expression and thought. — 
Self-help toward Better English. — Better pro- 
nunciation. — A larger and more useful vocabu- 
lary. — More telling sentences. — EUminating 
habitual errors from one's speech. 

V. Correspondence in Business 90 

The old and the new type of business letters. — 
Originality in letter-writing. — The correspond- 
ence of a student. — The letter of application. 

— The personal interview. — The personal 
letter. 



VI CONTENTS 

VI. Advertising anb Saleshianship 124 

Literary values have a part in advertising. — 
Psychology of Advertising. — The coinage of 
words. — The slogan. — The right choice of 
words. — Narrative in advertising. — Dramatic 
advertising. — The advertising letter. — Propa- 
ganda advertising. — The principles of advertising 
apphed to salesmanship. 

\TI. The Business Student's Re.\ding 163 

The value of reading to the business man. — 
Keeping up with current thought. — The book 
review. — Classified bibhographics for the stu- 
dent of business. 

Appendix A. The Form of the Business Letter 181 

Appendix B. Grammatical Helps 193 

Appendix C. A Digest of the Rules of Punctuation . . 203 



POINT OF VIEW 

This book is designed especially for high school students 
who expect to enter business. It does not pretend, however, 
to be a technical study of so-called Business English. The 
author rejects the imphcation made by many writers of 
business texts that the existence of business terms and 
business jargon justifies the isolation of "Business English" 
as an essentially different English. On the contrary, the 
author assumes that English in business is essentially like 
English out of business; that no more than we define as a 
thing apart doctor's English or carpenter's English, be- 
cause each has its particular terminology, should we, either 
by implication or directly, demarcate Business English. 
To do so creates in the mind of students of business a 
pseudo-technical distinction which makes them content 
with an artificial and stilted language. Such a language 
habit defeats the real aim of a course in English for com- 
mercial students, namely to teach facility in original expres- 
sion and judgment in meeting the situations of business life. 

Business to-day calls out for originality, for imagination, 
for creative ability, and the kind of English which will 
serve it best is the English which evinces these qualities. 
Correctness is but the minimum requirement. The stenog- 
rapher who aspires to be a secretary, the clerk who aims to 
become a buyer, the assistant who hopes to write advertise- 
ments, must write and talk above the level of mere formal 
correctness. Such ambitious persons must have a vocabu- 
lary which will hft them out of the patter of the conmion- 
place, must know how to make sentences that break away 
from the tedious dog-trot of the dull, must have at least 



viii POINT OF VIEW 

the rudiments of a st34e which is not the style of "hum" 
and "haw." The aim of this text is to suggest means of 
developing in the student something more than technical 
correctness. 

Further, this text deals with business as a high school 
pupil sees it. It does not pretend to teach a pupil how to 
write letters that an employer would write or to solve busi- 
ness problems that only business men of experience would 
be able to solve. It aims to use large business principles 
and simple student facts; to teach these principles from 
material in the lives of the students. 

The text is designed for advanced high school students 
whose previous training has taught them the basic facts of 
composition. Consequently, what space has been given to 
punctuation and grammar aims to stimulate enthusiasm 
for self-improvement and to suggest practical ways of self- 
help, rather than to provide again for the endless "review." 
Teachers from the grades to the graduate schools complain 
that students of composition arc inaccurate. Students do 
habitually ignore in practice what they learn in theory. 
The author believes that one effective way to fight inac- 
curacy is to .stop nagging and repeating — a teacher's habit 
— and to assume and demand — a business habit. Red ink 
corrections are less impressive than a staunch refusal to 
accept manuscripts not up to the highest standard which 
can be demanded from a particular class. This text, then, 
in so far as it deals with the rudiments of composition, aims 
to apply the business man's methods to the classroom and 
so to accustom the student to the.se methods as to lessen 
the jar felt by youth in pa.ssing from the tender discipline 
of the classroom to the sterner discipline of the business 
office. 



A PROJECT BOOK IN 
BUSINESS ENGLISH 

CHAPTER I 
THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 

The word "businesslike" has been borrowed from busi- 
ness and appHed outside of business. When a person shows 
particular care, is thorough, practical, and efficient in his 
work, that person is businesslike, whether he is engaged in 
business or not. We often speak of a housekeeper as being 
unbusinesslike. Her household accounts are, perhaps, not 
carefully kept, and her methods of buying food and house- 
hold equipment are capricious and impractical. Or a stu- 
dent may be called unbusinesslike. His arithmetic paper 
may be in disorder, his theme may be untidy, he may have 
forgotten the assignment in his botany class, he may be 
frequently late at school. In all transactions, whether be- 
tween customer and clerk, lawyer and client, housekeeper 
and family, teacher and student, we ought to expect a gen- 
eral businesslike dealing. We take the time of a customer 
if we are unsystematic in keeping our stock; we are selfishly 
inconsiderate of others in the home if we are not punctual 
in keeping our promises; we are encroaching unfairly upon 
the time of a teacher if we hand in an illegible theme. In 
any exchange of products, services, ideas, it is only fair to 
the other person to be prompt, thorough, efficient, and 
practical — in other words, businesslike. 

In business, competition forces one to be businesslike. 
One must be businesslike to survive. In other departments 
1 



2 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

of life, one ought to be businesslike. Being businesslike is 
not a matter of chance. One is businesslike or unbusiness- 
Hke through habit. The earlier a person can acquire busi- 
nesslike habits and the more widely he can apply them 
outside of business, the more successfully will he apply 
them in business. 

EXERCISES 

1. Give five other examples of being businesslike out- 

side of business. 

2. Give five examples of being unbusinesslike. 

Theme Topics — Written ok Or.\l 

1. The courtesy of being businesslike. 

2. The person who is never on time. 

3. The selfishness of carelessness. 

4. A particular person need not be a bore. 

5. Shiftlcssncss is not a sign of genius. 

Teachers and Employers 

All employer aasunies that his employees arc prompt, 
thorough, efficient. As soon as he discovers one who is not 
he dismisses the laggard. He says, "I cannot af[ord to hirc 
ineflicicnt help." This employer reckons his time in dollara 
and cents. Any carelessness or inaccuracy that encroaches 
upon his time or the prompt execution of his business is 
encroaching uix)n his profits. He eliminates inefficient 
service ius he eliminates jwor equipment. 

Now, looked at from any angle you please, the school is a 
large business organization. What business in your town 
or city has a bigger pa3'roll than the body of teachers, 
clerical helpers, janitors, students in your school system? 
Which has a greater capital investment in permanent 
equipment? Which has a larger budget than the yearly 
budget of your school system? Did you ever look at your 
school in this light? 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 3 

EXERCISES 

1. Get facts which bear upon the conception of the school 

system as a business organization. Have in the 
classroom the last five reports of your board of edu- 
cation and any similar Uterature which can be 
obtained. 

2. What is the total number engaged in your school 

system? 

3. What is the total yearly budget? 

4. What is the amount paid to the teaching force? 

5. Impressive single items of the budget, such as expen- 

diture for heating, books, etc. 

If the school is then really "Big Business", at least on its 
financial side, should not the teacher have the same idea of 
the value of time as an employer? Is it not an imposition 
for a pupil to offer to a teacher unbusinesslike excuses — 
"I didn't hear the assignment," "I forgot my pencil"? 
A teacher cannot afford from the standpoint of efficient 
teaching to correct papers whenever a pupil remembers to 
hand them in. It is just as much of a trespass upon a 
teacher's time to be lax, late, careless, inaccurate, or indif- 
ferent, as it would be upon an employer's time. 

Students and Employees 

Employees know that they must measure up to a certain 
standard in order to hold their positions. They seldom ask 
that fixed requirements be laid aside for them; that special 
favors be granted them. Employees do not expect em- 
ployers to repeat explanations and excuse carelessness. 
They realize, often only after sad experiences, that they 
must accept the stern discipline of business which demands 
that a task be performed correctly the first time. 

Students too often postpone this discipline of meeting 
fixed standards and can only acquire it through unfortunate 
experiences after they leave school. Students, not em- 



4 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

ploj^ees, plead for more time in which to finish an assigmnent; 
bargain with teachers, asserting that "good intentions" 
should offset poor work; hand in shabby work and admit 
it is shabb}'. These are the sins of students wliich no man 
of business would condone in an employee. 

Writtex Theme Topics 

(Develop the idea that petty carelessness permitted in school 
leads inevitably to more serious ifiejfficiency in business.) 

1. Great faults from daily errors grow. 

2. T^Iy business dm-ing the class hour. 

3. The early student gets his lesson. 

4. The stenographer who forgets her notebook used to 

forget her textbook. 

5. Getting used to a particular teacher; employer. 
G. "Hell is paved with good intentions." 

7. School, a business experience; business, a schooling. 

8. If emploj'ci-s were more like teachers. 

9. If teachers were more like cmplojere. 

10. The teacher refused my favorite stock excuse. 

11. The incfTicicncy of l3orrowing. 

12. Making the same error twice; in school; in business. 

13. Day dreaming while the teacher makes the assign- 

ment; should she repeat? 

14. Lciiving assignments until the last moment. 
1."). Rxcuscs you can't offer more than once. 

Credit and Wages 

In business there is a cold and calculating efficiency 
governing all transactions. In matters of credit, service, 
exchange of products, the code in business demands an 
imi)ersonal, severe efficiency which treats all individuals 
alike and makes no exceptions on personal grounds. 

In bu.sine.ss one is paid only wiuit he is consideretl actually 
to have earmil. It sometimes happens that men and women 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 5 

are over or under paid because of the inaccuracy or dis- 
honesty of an employer's judgment; but, broadly speaking, 
payment is given for value received and service is treated as 
a commodity to be sold for what it is actually worth to the 
buyer. 

How many students would think of saying to an em- 
ployer, "Well, Miss Smith didn't do any more work than 
I did. I don't see what reason there is for her getting 
more salary than I do;" or, "I tried to get those letters 
out; but I made some mistakes, and so didn't finish 
them;" or again, "I forgot yesterday's letters; may I 
type them to-day?" What would the services of such an 
employee be worth to the buyer of those services, his 
employer? 

Students of business should accept the same moral obli- 
gation to do their work properly, if they expect credit, that 
a man of business does. They should be too self-respecting 
to ask for credit that has not been earned. If a student 
expects to enter business, he should begin while in school to 
learn and practise the principle of honestly earning his 
own way. 

Theme Topics 

1. How does one learn what he is worth? 

2. Setting a value on my own quahfications. 

8. Accepting cheerfully a lower mark than I think I 
deserve. 

4. How to get an increase in salary; in marks. (An 

analogy.) 

5. The worn-out alibi for poor work: "The teacher 

doesn't like me." 

6. How much marks mean to me. 

7. The teacher exposed my pretense. 

8. Profiting by my failures. 

9. Estimating my own monthly grades; liov/ often ftia 

I right? 



6 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

10. Marks are not always true expressions of student 

worth; money cannot always measure value. (An 
analogy.) 

11. A method of marking that inspu-es best efforts. 

12. "A good paymaster pays only when work is done." 

(]\Iay be apphed to school life.) 

13. My report card, my salary for the month. 

14. My year's credits; what interest will these earnings 

bring? 

15. Teachers don't "give" marks; students earn them. 

16. The open file system of recording grades. 

17. Reading marks in class. 

18. Competition stimulates efforts for better grades. 

19. The failure of an overconfident "A" student. 

20. Papers marked by students. 

We might put together into a sort of code some of the 
simpler aspects of businesslike behavior on the part of 
students. Such a code might be called the business man's 
code put in practice in the classroom. It is easy of course 
to write down good resolutions. The pinch comes in trying 
to live up to them. However, this particular code does 
not make a demand for impossible virtues. 

A Business Code for the Classroom 

I. Promptncnii. 

1. A student should not (•xi:H-ct tiic whole school to 
wait for him. A travcUng salesman does not 
expect a train to wait for him; he adapts himself 
to its schedule and allows time for emergencies. 
A student should not whine excu.ses if blocked 
cars make him late for school. He should practise 
business foresight and allow for possible delays. 
He should consider a class as an apjwintment with 
his teacher and fellow students. To interrupt the 
class recitation by a late arrival calls for an ex- 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 7 

planation and an apology. The man of business 
does not come late for an appointment or interrupt 
a meeting by his tardy entrance without feeling 
a sense of failure for not having lived up to his 
obligations. 
2. Work should be done on time. The habit of putting 
off is an unbusinesslike habit. Excuses for work 
not done on time should be made before, not 
after, the date set for the completion of a task. 
Suppose an employer had asked his secretary to 
collect the data for a report to a board of directors. 
The hour for the report is at hand. The secretary 
says to his employer, ''I couldn't find that material. 
It was nowhere in the files." At such a moment 
how could he offer such an explanation, true as it 
might be, when there was no chance for his em- 
ployer to meet the emergency? Yet often in 
school a student is Kkely to wait until the recita- 
tion is started, the class is waiting for his report, 
before offering an explanation for not having it 
ready. 

II. Tools Ready. 

A student should assume the responsibility of being 
provided with necessary equipment. He has no right 
to forget his pencil, his textbook, or his papers. If he 
does forget, he should not molest his neighbor by borrow- 
ing. Gan you imagine a stenographer entering her em- 
ployer's office and saying to him boldly, "I forgot 
my pencil; may I borrow yours?" or "I forgot my 
notebook; may I write my notes on the edge of your 
newspaper?" 

ni. Understanding Orders. 

A student should not expect his teacher to repeat 
directions or assignments because of his inattentiveness. 
It is his business to get correctly, not the second time, 



8 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

but the first, all explanations concerning classwork. 
No employer ever tolerates indifferent attention; while 
in school the student must learn, bj' practice, abihty 
to listen. 

IV. Following Orders. 

A student must learn to follow directions explicit I3'. 
To understand half an assignment and follow that 
correct]}^ is not enough. He must train himself to the 
habit of complete accuracy, if he ever intends to win 
the respect of future business associates. 

V. Pride of Workmaiiship. 

The student must develop a pride in good worlonan- 
ship, even in doing the work he dishkes. The job well 
done is its own advertisement in business. The student 
is building a poor foundation for a business life who 
contents himself while in school with a low standartl of 
quality. 

Perhaps every student who reads through this code will 
own that in school work he falls short in some particulars 
of its standard of businesslike conduct. Would it be im- 
IKjssible to come nearer to its standard? It is worth the 
while of a student of business to fight careless habits. Busi- 
ness does not tolerate carelessness. A student puts his 
business future in danger, if he allows liimself to acquire 
careless habits of work duriiii; school days. 

SiGGESTio.\.s Kuii Theme Wuitino 

I. Write a parody of Kipling's "If", given below, either 
in prose or ix)ctry, describing a business student who may 
become a successful business man. Your last line or idea 
might be, "You'll be a btisiness man, my son." Or write 
it from the standpoint of a student, describing an ideal 
student. Make your portrayal concrete and pertinent. 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 9 

Suggestions fob Oral Themes Based on "If" 

1. Lines 3 and 4 applied to a business student. 

2. Lines 9 and 10 — your interpretation and application 

of them. 

3. The spirit of stanza 3; give illustrations from life, 

history, or fiction of such characters. 

4. Lines 27 and 28; your interpretation. 

5. The spirit of the whole poem expressed in a sentence. 

If 

1. If you can keep your head when all about you 

2. Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 

3. If you can trust yourself when aU men doubt you 
Jf.. And make allowance for their doubting too; 

6. If you can wait and not be tired by waiting 

6. Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, 

7. Or being hated don't give way to hating, 

8. And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; 

9. If you can dream — and not make dreams your master 

10. If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim, 

11. If you can meet with triumph and disaster 

12. And treat these two impostors just the same; 

13. If you can bear to hear the truth you've, spoken 

14. Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

15. Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

16. And stoop to build 'em up with worn-out tools; 

17. If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

18. And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

19. And lose and start again at your beginnings 

20. And never breathe a word about your loss; 

21. If you can force your nerve and heart and sinew 

22. To serve your turn long after they are gone, 

23. And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

24' Except the will which says to them: "Hold on!" 



10 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

23. If you can talk with crowds and keep j^our virtue, 

26. Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch, 

27. If neither foes nor loving friends can hm't you, 

28. If all men count with you, but none too much; 

29. If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

30. With sLxty seconds worth of distance rim, 

31. Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
33. And — what is more — you'll be a Man, my Son! 

— Rudyard Kipling 

Note. — An illustration of such a parody, taken from 
"an 'If for Girls," by Elizabeth Lincoln Otis is given below. 

"If 3'ou can dress to make yourselves attractive 
Yet not make pulls and curls your chief delight; 
If you can swim and row, be strong and active 
But of the gentler graces lose not sight;" etc. 

II. Write a Business Student's creed modeled after 
either of the two resolutions printed below: 

The Salesman's Creed 

1. Ti) respect my profession, my company and myself. To be 

honest and fair with my company, as I expect my com- 
pany to be honest and fair with mc; to think of it with 
loyalty, sjX'ak of it with prai.se, and act alwaj-s as a trust- 
worthy custodian of it,s gooti name. To Iki a man whose 
word carries weiglit at my home office; to be a booster, 
not a knocker; a pusher, not a kicker; a motor, not a 
clog. 

2. To base my expectations of reward on a solid foundation of 

8cr\ice rendcrctl; to Ixi wiling to pay the price of success, 
in honest effort. To look ujion my work as opportunity 
to Ik? seized with joy and made tlic most of, and not as 
painful drudgcrj' to lie reluctantly endured. 

3. To romcmlx?r that success lies within myself, in my own 

brain, my own ambition, my own courage and determina- 
tion. To expect dillicultics and force my way through 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 11 

them; to turn hard experiences into capital for future 
struggles. 

4. To believe in my proposition heart and soul; to carry an 

air of optimism into the presence of possible customers; 
to dispel ill temper with cheerfulness, kill doubts with 
strong convictions and reduce active friction with an 
agreeable personaUty. 

5. To make a study of my business; to know my profession 

in every tietail from the ground up; to" mix brains with 
my efforts and use system and method in my work. To 
find time to do everything needful by never letting time 
find me dding nothing. To hoard days as a miser hoards 
dollars; to make every hour bring me dividends in com- 
missions, increased knowledge or healthful recreation. 

6. To keep my future unmortgaged with debts; to save money 

as well as earn it; to cut out expensive amusements until 
I can afford them; to steer clear of dissipation and guard 
my health of body and peace of mind as my most precious 
stock in trade. 

7. Finally, to take a good grip on the joy of life; to play the 

game hke a gentleman; to fight against nothing so hard 
as my own weaknesses, and to endeavor to grow as a sales- 
man and as a man with the passage of every day of time. 
This is my Ckeed. 

— Chicago Portrait Company 

Suggestions foe Oral Analysis 

1. What do you like best in this creed? 

2. Did you ever meet a salesman like this one? 

3. Do students practise the idea in paragraph 2? 

4. Apply the idea of paragraph 3 to students. 

5. Enlarge upon the ideas in line 1 and the first half of 

line 2 in paragraph 7. 

6. What figures of speech are particularly suggestive? 

7. Use the following words in sentences of your own: 

custodian reluctantly dissipation 

rendered dispel 



12 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Theme Subjects (based on " The Salesman's Creed ") 

1. Be a motor, not a clog in class recitation. Para- 

graph 1. 

2. Recitations as opportunities. Paragraph 2. 

3. The student whose words carry weight with his 

fellows. 

4. ^Making every recitation count. Paragraph 4. 

5. Keeping my record clear. 

6. The peace of mind after a correct recitation. 

7. Getting a good grip on the joys of school life. Para- 

graph 7. 

8. Good sportsmanship in the classroom. 

9. The slacker in cla.ss. 

10. The price of good marks. 

Resolved 
I (From The Poster, January, 1010) 

1. That we all cease trying to get somctliing for nothing — 

grafting, in other words; that we all do just a little more 
than we agree to do, rather than ju.st a little less, 

2. That honesty is a question of expression here on earth, with 

its rewards in profits now, here on earth; that honesty is 
not a question of morals with but a promise of a blissful 
idleness in a doubtful beyond, later on. 

3. That fear is the root of all evil; for if one neighbor cheats 

us in Ixis store it is to fortify liinxself against some element 
out of liis store. 

4. That the bjusis of aU life is businc.s.s life; that business is the 

system by which we supply our want.s and needs; that we 
are true to political life, true to social life a.s we are true 
to bu.siness life. 

5. That we think of others as we would ha\e them think of us; 

that we do as we think; the thought precedes the act. 
G. That coojx^ration is the real brotherhood of man; that the 
jjrosixrity of one man docs not require the poverty of 
another. 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 13 

7. That both the idle man and the dishonest man, whether 
they be possessed of little or much, are fools in themselves 
and abominations to their communities. 

— David Gibson 



Suggestions for Oral Themes (based on " Resolved ") 

1. Getting something for nothing. Paragraph 1. 

2. "Business is business." Paragraph 4. 

3. The Golden Rule in business. Paragraph 5. 

4. "There is plenty of room at the top." Para- 

graph 6. 
6. "Honesty is the best policy" from a practical point 
of view. Paragraph 2. 

6. "Murder will out." Paragraphs. 

7. Signs of cooperation in business. 

8. Think twice before you act. Paragraph 5. 

9. Fear is the root of all evil. Paragraph 3. 

10. "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go 
with him twain." (Matthew v, 41.) 

Accuracy in Business and the Classroom 

In business a bookkeeper's sheet must be correct to a 
cent. He cannot console himself with, "Oh, I'm only a 
cent off." His balance must be exact. Letters from business 
houses of a good repute must be letter perfect. One mis- 
spelled word blemishes a letter; it creates an impression 
which the rest of the letter cannot correct. In aU business 
there is demanded accuracy as to facts. An employee 
cannot think he mailed a letter; he must know that 
he did. 

Students often say, "Why, my answer was just a cent 
off; I knew the spelling of that word but I forgot to correct 
my paper; I think I handed in that assignment; it was in 
my book when I came to class." In business none of these 
excuses would be worth consideration. 



14 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

What would a Business Man Expect from a Student in an 
English Class? (With apologies to A. M. Hitchcock.) 

There is the required mechanical form, penmanship, 
indentations, etc. Would he accept a scrawled, untidy 
manuscript? What would be the effect upon his business 
of permitting lawlessness in such matters? 

There are the common erroi-s of carelessness, spelling, 
grannnar, punctuation. Would he bestow more red ink 
upon them? Less. The careless theme he would not accept 
until it was rewritten in the pupil's best style. 

There is the composition obviously written merely to 
meet a requirement, to "get by." Little effort, except 
muscular, has gone into it. It is in no sense a real composi- 
tion. Would he accept such a lazy, half-hearted kind of 
work? No, he would call for a new effort until the "rather- 
more-or-less " student had produced a "just-so" theme. 
Business teaches its students tiiat they must learn that a 
task is a task and that it is not done until it is done. 

The Business of Learning to Write 

Any activity may l)c made a bu-siness. As soon as we 
take a thing seriously, decide to put our best efforts into 
its perfection, systematize those efforts and employ them 
regularly, we have "made a business of it," as the phrase 
goes. "I'll make it my business to provide entertainment 
for the evening, " says the chairman of a social committee, 
and unless she means "business" we know that the even- 
ing will be a failure. We do not mind this entering of busi- 
ness management into the scenes of our .social life. We 
know that unless our committees can make a business of 
ordering the ice cream or providing the orchestra, the stage 
will not be set for our pleasure. We never can have any of 
the worth-wliile things in life unless some one has assumed 
a business rcsix)nsiljility for providing them. 

Similarly, we never learn anything well until in our own 
words wc "make a business of learning." That does not 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 15 

mean that we must be swallowed up in a system. We must 
remember that a system serves an end and that if we forget 
the end it serves, the system is but hollow and meaningless. 
We can't learn to play the violin without systematizing our 
practice no matter how talented we are. We can't learn 
dressmaking, or farming, until we approach the subject 
seriously and with enough system to make our learning 
steady, rapid, and thorough. 

We can't learn to write and talk better until we seriously 
put in force a thorough, systematic regulation of our efforts 
toward that end. Students accept learning to write and 
talk better as the general aim of the class in EngUsh, but 
too few pursue it with any steady seriousness. A few stu- 
dents make it their business to try to improve; but the 
class as a whole does not always enter upon the business of 
learning to write with a seriousness that can be called 
businesslike. 

Theme Topics 

1. A party that was managed efficiently. 

2. Getting through the dishes in a businesslike fashion. 

3. A housekeeper who scoffed at "business entering the 

home." 

4. Efficiency makes good times possible. 

5. Inefficiency spoils the spirit of the home. 

6. The fumbler as a friend. 

7. Success, one part inspiration, two parts perspiration. 

(Edison.) 

8. Making your head save your time. 

9. Systematic studjdng. 

10. Trying to learn without system. 

11. Systematic practice makes perfect. 

The Classroom, a Place of Business 

A classroom may be thought of as a place of business and 
the analogy may be carried out as closely as the equipment 
of the school will permit. 



16 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Suggestions for Oral Analysis of this Analogy 

1. What is the business of each student in the class? 

2. What clerical business is there to be done in connec- 

tion with the routine of the classroom? 

3. What business is there about the school that a class 

in Business English might do for practice? 

(a) Are there student activities that advertise 

plays, programs? 
(6) Is there secretarial work that teachers might 

trust an English class to do? 

4. ^Vhat sort of business organization might enable a 

class to solicit such work? 

5. ^\^lat other departments of your school thus corre- 

late theory and practice? 

6. Are there other opportunities about school for busi- 

ness practice? 

7. What e<}uipment should each student have in order 

to be i)U.sinesslike in class. 

8. ^\^lat additional eciuipment in your room would make 

your classroom more like an office? 

9. What sort of books would a business man have upon 

his desk for ready reference? 
10. Examine the following types of ixxiks and learn how 
each may lie used efficiently: 

(a) An English grammar. 
(6) A te.xt on composition. 

(c) A dictionary of synonyms. 

(d) A hanilbook of commercial correspondence. 

The following arc good suggestions: 

(a) Whitney's "English Grammar." 
(6) Hitchcock's "New Practice Book in Composi- 
tion." 
(c) Fernald's "Dictionary of Synonyms." 



THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 17 

(d) Putnam's "Handbook of Commercial Corre- 
spondence." 

11. Get facts bearing on the subject "How my school 
record is kept." 



Problems in Business Management 

1. Suggest some simple device for students' use for tak- 

ing care of clippings, references, illustrations and all 
other material used by the class which a business- 
like student would save. Be practical in your sug- 
gestion. 

2. Suggest a way to organize your class according to 

some business model. In a plan, arrange seating in 
imitation of an office; i.e., seat those whose work 
is related near together. Try to eliminate waste 
motion and time in class management. 

3. Suggest time and labor-saving devices for your own 

study. Read Whipple's "How to Study." 

4. Make a weekly schedule, such as a traveling salesman 

might use, for your own school work. Aim to follow 
the business man's ideal: the most accomplished 
with the least effort and time. A business man does 
not reckon time as worth anything in itself. To 
spend an hour on a lesson may be an hour wasted 
unless you accomplish something worth while. 

Make for yourself duplicates of the following "business 
forms" in order to keep a chart of your failures and suc- 
cesses in trying to use better English. 

I. Error slip: to be used in oral recitations to report the 
grammatical or rhetorical errors of the person reciting. 



18 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! 



Name 
Error 



Signature of person reporting error. 
Date 



II. Error Sheet: to be used for recording individual's own 
technical errors. It might be pasted in the front of 
the text or notebook. 



Name 




Week of teim 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


:o 


11 


12 


Grammar 


























Spelling 


























Capitalization 












— 






— 


— 


— 




Punctuation 












Incomplete sentence 












— 


— 


— 


— 


— 


— 




Run-together sentence 










Tcciiiiical margin, 
Endorsement , etc. 












1 







THE BUSINESS OF GOING TO SCHOOL 19 
III. Graph of Term's Work. 



Themes 


123 456789 etc 


. 




100 
95 
90 
85 
80 
75 
vn. 
















































Grade 














/ 


\ 








in percentage 












1 


/ 


\ 




















/ 




\ 












/ 


\ 






y 




\ 


/ 




Passing 






\ 




/ 














line 


1 

2 

3 

4 
etc 






\ 
\ 


1 
1 
















Number of 






\ 
\ 


f 
















inexcusable 
























- in red ink 


























. 























N. B. A paper with one or more inexcusable errors is below grade 
no matter how excellent the paper is otherwise. See pages 86, 87, 
88, 89 for list of " inexcusable " errors. 



General Theme Topics 

1. Working overtime. 

2. The grind in school versus the efficient student. 

3. Brilhant students I have known who didn't improve. 

4. Average students I have known to profit by their 

failures. 

5. Making the most of the study period. 

6. Burning the midnight oil; poetic but inefficient. 

7. Getting my "money's worth" out of a class recita- 

tion; or, as much as my effort entitles me to. 

8. Taking books home without looking at them; the 

effect on a student's morale. 

9. Short cuts for efficient studying. 

10. The student who grows to depend upon special help 
from the teacher. 



CHAPTER II 
IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 

Imagination in Dollars and Cents 

"Business is Business" the world constantly assures us. 
Chapter I has already described this stern spirit of busi- 
ness which one must understand before he can survive. 
But along with this impersonal demand for efficiency there 
grows another spirit in business almost contradictory to it. 
If business is severe and calculating and uncompromising 
on the one hand, on the other it aims, to an increasing 
degree, to l>e warm and fricntlly and pereonal. A decade 
ago, we would have laughed at the idea of a heart appeal 
in a business letter, or of imagination and sentiment having 
a part in business. But to-day wo find that these pay in 
dollars and cents. 

Theme Topics 
"Business is Business,'^ but Something more 

1. Clerks who are friendly. 

2. Personal Service Bureaus in large city depart- 

ment stores. 

3. Ciood will increa.ses trade. 

4. The jx^rsonal touch in advertising. 

5. A salesman with a pei-sonal appeal. 

6. A form letter with a personal tone. 

7. The greater intimacy in window displays. 

8. A business letter with a heart apjx-al. 

9. Departments that cater to individual taste. 
10. Business, a gi-eat adventure in human service. 

20 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 21 

11. Business, a chance to do the necessary things of hfe 

in a helpful, pleasing manner. 

12. Successful selfishness in business is passing. 

13. What business does for children. 

14. Business celebrates Thanksgiving. 

15. Business teaches the housewife. 

16. Art has invaded business. 

17. Business anounces, "Spring is here." 

18. Business educates the pubHc. 

19. Business encourages sports. 

20. Business preaches sermons. 

And so at the same time that business calls out for greater 
efficiency, it calls out, with almost equal ardor, for imagina- 
tion that can turn good will into profits. It may seem strange 
that this faculty of the poet should have a place in prosaic 
business, but it has. An engine to the manufacturer is 
likely to be but a thing of iron wrought in noisy factories 
at the cost of time and labor and money. To a yachtsman 
it may be a "faithful friend" which brings him safely to the 
harbor. The advertiser and salesman take this " affection " 
for their cue. They must understand not only the engine 
but the yachtsman as well. Their imagination must tell 
them what appeal will most surely convert the yachtsman 
into a customer. To the advertiser, — the modern poet in 
business, — a soap, a fabric, a device, a machine, are not 
merely things. In each he sees an association, a picture, 
a story, an idea, a memory with which to lure the pubhc 
mind. He realizes that it is truth imaginatively told that 
makes a sale. 



EXERCISE 

Find examples of pictures and stories in advertising 
where common articles are imaginatively dealt with. For 
example, soaps, automobiles, foods, medicines. 



22 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 




© try the Editon Lamp Works Krprinted by Ihrir permismou (page 21) 

The first of ii s*Tic3 of piiiiitings by Maxfield Parkimh, ijortraying 

the devclopnicnt of Light 

lUuotrating " Truth Imaginatively Told " 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 23 




PROMETHEUS 



It is recorded in ancient legend that in the beginning the earth, 
sea and heavens were all blended together and wore one aspect. 
This was called Chaos. 

Then the great god of the universe interposed, and through the 
good offices of some lesser deity arranged the mountains and plains, 
the seas and rivers, caused the stars to appear, and created the beast 
and fishes which took possession of the land and sea. 

But a nobler animal was desired by the gods. So to Prometheus 
and his brother, Epimetheus, was assigned the task of creating man 
and providing him and all the other animals with the means neces- 
sary for their protection. Epimetheus undertook the task and Pro- 
metheus was to supervise his work. He accordingly proceeded to 
bestow upon the animals the various gifts of courage, strength, swift- 
ness, sagacity and many others, but wlien he came to man, the 
noblest of all animals, he had nothing left to bestow upon him. In 
his perplexity he turned to Prometheus, who, with the aid of Minerva 
went up to heaven and lighted his torch at the chariot of the sun 
and brought down fire and light to man. 

So runs the legend handed down to us by the ancient poets, and 
it is to interpret this interesting story of the origin of light that 
Maxfield Parrish has painted Prometheus returning earthward with 
the lighted torch after leaving the chariot of the sun. 

Through the ages willing pioneers have labored to fulfill the task 
that Prometheus thus began. His torch became a shell, a skull or 
bit of clay filled with oil, then a vessel of iron or bronze, then a 
candle, then a flame from gaseous vapor, and finally electricity was 
caught and chained. 

In 1879, Thomas A. Edison, after much experimenting, produced 
the first practical incandescent electric lamp. Between that first 
crude bulb and the Edison MAZDA lamps of 1920 many types of 
Edison lamps have been developed, each one marking a distinct 
advance. Always the idea has been the same — more and better 
light at a lower cost. And in the service of that ideal the great 
research laboratories of the General Electric Company have been 
erected, and a large number of experts are continuously and tire- 
lessly seeking to make MAZDA lamps mean still more in efficiency 
and comfort. 

So from hand to hand the torch of Prometheus has been passed 
along, growing more brilliant with each year. But the torch remains 
only as a symbol, for now Edison MAZDA lamps perform its task, 
lighting the humblest home as no olden palace ever was, thus plac- 
ing within reach of all the latest refinement of the original blessing 
which Prometheus bestowed upon mankind. 



24 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Broadly speaking all business depends upon its ability 
to advertise and to sell, whether it be products, services, 
talents, or ideas. There is no success in business without 
this abihty to sell; and salesmanship obviously is based upon 
the imaginative faculties. 

Theme Topics 
Imagination in Business 

1. Business tells stories to the pubUc. 

2. Business makes imaginative appeals with the following 

ideas: 

(a) The spirit of the home. 

(6) Patriotism. 

(c) "Peace on earth, good will toward men." 

(rf) The beauties of Nature. 

(e) The romance of childhood. 

3. Business tells fairy stories. 

4. Business revives old memories. 

5. Business likes to tease the public. 

Imagination Redeems Routine: 

Imagination makes an uninteresting task interesting and 
turns dull routine into pleasant occupation. The ability 
to see lx»yond the monotony of the labor involved to the 
Ix'auty and worth of the product created, is to be coveted 
by all who would enjoy their work. Spading a garden, 
scrubbing a floor, sorting checks, typing letters is all dull, 
mechanical lalwr without the vision of flowers in full bloom, 
a clean kitchen, an orderly business, and a message to be 
sent. All labor as^^umes a new dignity to the person who 
perceives and enjoys the purpose which it ser\'es. That 
so many thousands of men and women in this world are con- 
demnetl to a life of grinding monotony, of mechanical routine 
without ever sensing the joy of purpose in their efforts, is 
one of the colossal tragedies of life whidi social philosophers 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS . 25 

are attempting to remedy. But however these injustices 
of our system may be explained and improved, the truth 
still holds that only where there is perception of purpose in 
routine is there any joy in it; that only where there is imagi- 
nation in the worker can there be happiness in work. 



Oral Theme Topics 

1. Watching my job progress. 

2. The joy of final achievement. 

3. ''Making something out of nothing." 

4. Saturday, my day for creating. 

5. A vision beyond the labor. 

The average person is employed in work which on the 
whole becomes gradually monotonous. The most novel 
work, when it is repeated daily, becomes a routine. Some- 
times it happens that this daily monotony is redeemed from 
day to day, from hour to hour, by the imagination of the 
worker. An unimaginative salesclerk may regard her daily 
waiting upon customers as a stretch of uninterrupted stu- 
pidity. She may see in her job only the approach of pay- 
day. 

To an imaginative salesclerk, customers are not all alike; 
there is a rich variety of human nature to observe. For 
her there is humor, pathos^ charm, interest, revelation in 
the trivial incidents of the day. There is the whole world 
of "what might happen" to sustain her in moments of 
dullness. Life is adventurous, teeming with possibihties 
just around the corner. She is alert, eager for any improve- 
ment of her powers that will lead her nearer to a goal her 
imagination sets. 

Theme Topics 

1. Life, a series of daily adventures to the wide-awake 
person. 



26 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. Singing while you do a monotonous job. 

3. The rhythm of some mechanical tasks. 

4. Washing cUshes made interesting. 

5. Building air castles while my fingers are busy. 

6. Observations of human nature. 

7. A trivial incident that brightened a dull day. 

8. A charming pictm-e I saw on my way to work; to 

school. 

9. A pathetic face that haunts me. 

10. An interesting conversation I overheard. 

The Basis of Imagination — Observation 

In simple terms imagination is the ability of the mind to 
reproduce impressions gained through the five senses and to 
combine them into new and original conceptions. I see a 
cloud; I close my eyes and still .'•ee in ni}' mind's eye, a cloud. 
I hear the roar of the waves long after my ears are out of 
range of tlie sound. If I bite into a jx^ach and shiver at 
the sensation of the fuzz, I shall doubtless cany the feel- 
ing in my mcmor}' for several seconds. "I can still feel," 
we say, "the dentist's drilHng." Some of us can still taste 
in imagination our first grape fniit or still smell the orange 
that fell out of our stocldng on Christmas morning. In all 
these cases the power to retain these sense impressions exists 
in greater and less degree in everj' individual. 

All of us have as the ba.sis of our mental equipment these 
sense images out of which to construct the rest of our mental 
furniture. We may take these impressions and combine 
them into myriads of new forms. We may see again in our 
mind's eye a scene we once saw in California and into it 
put a woman we rec;:!! having seen in Boston. The com- 
bination would Ix? a product of imagination. Thus a writer 
works from his .sense impressions, building one scene for his 
story out of the details from another. An inventor builds 
upon the experience of his past impressions and fashions 
in his imagination an original idea. Farther and farther 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 27 

we travel away from actual experience of the senses into the 
realm of pure imagination, but the basis of imagination is 
observation. Only those who have learned to use their 
senses will ever have the material for imagination. 

Your Impressions 

Aim to prove to the class that you are observant of detail, 
that you are alive with your five senses. Write from 
actual experience, describing observed facts, on any of the 
following suggestions: 

1. A salesman whose appearance is a good advertisement. 

2. A bargain counter scramble. 

3. A description of the "boss." 

4. "Quitting time" in a large store or factory. 

5. Types seen in a street car. 

6. An attractive window display. 

7. A bird's eye view of the city. 

8. The mills at sunset. 

9. The boss goes out. 

10. Fashions seen on the street. 

11. A busy corner on a rainy day. 

12. The city at night. 

13. An effective street car advertisement. 

14. The blind man selling pencils. 

15. The poHceman at the semaphore. 

Suggestions for Writing 

1. Write to entertain the' class; don't bore the class with 

a duU theme. Don't waste time on the obvious. 

2. Choose a scene you yourself are interested in if you 

would interest others. 

3. Don't head your paper "Theme" or "EngHsh"; let 

your interesting title be an advance advertisement 
of an interesting article. 



28 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

4. Re-read your theme in its final form and make sure 
you have no errors in spelUng, punctuation, and 
grammar to mar the impression your theme would 
otherwise make. 

Questions to ask youi-self in re-reading your theme : 

1. Does the theme create a picture? 

2. A\Tiat details accompHsh this? 

3. "Would the theme be interesting outside a classroom, 

in a letter perhaps? 

4. Do I show powers" of observation? 

5. "WTiat details will prove to my reader that I am a keen 

observer? 

MlSCELL-VNEOUS SUGGESTIONS 

1. Take one of the theme topics listed on the preceding 

page and add to any of the observed facts any 
imaginative coloring 3'ou please, as: 

(a) Put into the scene you observed, characters you 

saw in another scene and make a story. 

(b) Interpret the scene you actually saw, using 

3'our imagination to explain the bare facts. 

2. Contrast in a theme, the powers of observation of any 

two people of your acquaintance. 

3. Road the life of Helen Keller. Note how strength 

of three senses increases with the Ioks of the other 
two. How docs Helen Keller "imagine"? Upon 
what would her idea of a tree be based? 

4. What part in the life of a business man does keen ob- 

servation play? Illustrate from: 
(a) The Ufe of a salesman. 
(6) The Ufe of an employee. 

(c) The life of a merchant. 

(d) The life of a clerk. 

(c) The life of a stenographer 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 29 

5. Try to recall offhand : 

(a) The appearance of the conductor on the car you 

last rode on. 
(6) The impression some stranger made upon you 
at the theater or some such place. 

(c) The details of a strange room you were last in. 

See how many you can recall. 

(d) Read a Sherlock Holmes story and note the 

powers of observation of that famous detec- 
tive. Bring to class illustrations of uncanny 
ability to see at a glance. 

Using Observed Facts as a Basis for the Imagination 

Instinctive in man is the desire to make things. To see 
and make pictures of what we see; to hear and write music; 
to reproduce the odors of the gardens in costly perfumes; 
to bring together into a salad fruits and vegetables whose 
blend of flavors appeals to the palate; these desires to create 
are deep-rooted. The artist creates new pictures out of 
those he has seen in nature; the musician composes new 
melodies; and the original person sees in his experience 
material for his imagination's building. No experience is 
too trivial or too insignificant to suggest possibilities to his 
imagination. Out of the commonplace he fashions the 
romantic; out of the usual, the unusual; out of the prosaic, 
the poetic; and out of the old, the new. 

His mind is habitually sorting over odd facts, is contin- 
ually trying new combinations of facts in his eagerness to 
get on the trail of an idea, an invention, a plan, or a sugges- 
tion. The imaginative person's mind is never quiet. On 
the street car, in the lobby, at the noon hour, in books, in 
a crowd, at work or at play, the imaginative mind makes 
new associations, combines new ideas. 

A student who wishes to develop his imagination must 
develop this sense-acuteness. On the playground, in the 
classroom, at home and on the street, let it be his daily 
habit to watch and listen. 



30 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

A Chance to Exercise Your Ial\gination 

1. Imagine in detail and describe an attractive window 

display for a dealer in athletic goods. 

2. Imagine a conversation between the lady of the house 

and an agent who has just rung the door bell. On 
the door printed on a placard are the following words: 
"Agents and solicitors will please refrain from ring- 
ing tliis door bell or otherwise disturbing the occu- 
pants of this house." The agent has not seen the 
placard. 

3. Imagine and describe an ideal job. 

4. Imagine a "pusli button" home where all electrical 

conveniences are installed. 

5. Coin a word to be used as a title or name for some 

student organization. 

0. Picture in your mind's eye an itlcal employer. 

7. Imagine an ideal class recitation. 

8. Write a one-act plaj' or a short story using well-known 

atlvertising charactei-s, the Cream of ^^'hcat chef, etc. 

9. By using pictures of the Campbell's Soup Kids or other 

advertising charactci-s make a scries of scenes for 
a funny supplement or to tell an advertising story. 

8lg(;estion 

Use bits of your own experience; don't try to create the 
materials for your structure as well as to build it; take ideas 
from cverj'XNhere and combine them into new ones. Let 
your observatif)n give you the material, and your imagina- 
tion do the building. It's only the combination that nuist 
have the stamp of originality. 

Miscellaneous 

1. Name five opportunities for the following to employ 

their imagination: 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 3] 

A janitor of a large apartment building. 

A druggist in a small town. 

A waiter in an exclusive summer resort. 

A stenographer for an absent-minded doctor. 

A milliner in a residence district. 

2. Name five jobs that commonly require no imagination. 

3. In these five jobs, name opportunities for the workers 

to employ their imaginations as a means of relieving 
the monotony. 

4. Name some business positions that especially require 

imagination. What sort of imagination in each? 

5. Analyze the need of imagination in each of the follow- 

ing: 

Selling millinery. 
Reading the gas meter. 
Soliciting charity contributions. 
Applying for a position. 

6. Name the studies in the curriculum that develop the 

imagination. Discuss them. 

7. Argue your own point of view on the following: 

do not 



(a) The subjects in the conmiercial course , , 
offer stimulation to the imagination. 

(6) Imagination I . | f ^s important as any other 
single quahfication in business. 

Seeing What the Other Fellow Sees 

Have you ever wandered casually about the aisles of a 
large hardware department, fascinated by the wonders of 
kitchen ware? You had not intended to buy anything; 
you were just waiting for a package to be wrapped in a 
neighboring department and were whiHng away the minutes. 
That table yonder was full of the latest novelties for paring, 
coring, cleaning, etc. And as you looked for the latest de- 



32 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

vice you spied just an ordinary egg beater. "That reminds 
me," you said, as you searched for a quarter. And the 
next counter, strange enough, had just the piece of Pyrex 
that you had been looking for to complete your set. 

Had it ever occurred to you that the manager of that 
department was a student of women's waj^s? He knew 
women's tendency to forget to replace worn-out egg beaters. 
He might have put up the advertising sign, "Just to remind 
you" but he knew that 3'ou would supply the slogan your- 
self if he simply put the counter in the right place. He 
remembered his wife's saying years ago when they were 
still newly married but had worn out their first egg beater 
on the waffles that she so proudly made, "Oh, dear, I do wish 
I could remember to get a new egg beater. I almost spoiled 
those waffles with that old one. I never can remember 
those Httle things when I am down town." And when he 
entered the hardware department some years later he made 
use of that trifling incident and a whole lot of other "insig- 
nificant" experiences of the days and weeks. And that was 
why he climbed so rapidly from clerk to manager. 

Haven't you often, in a store, become irritated at the 
awkward fuml)ling of a clerk over stock that ^•he didn't seem 
to know? After five minutes of inefi'ective searching, she 
said quite unconvincingly, "I guess we haven't that in stock." 
You knew she did liave it, but dimply couldn't find it. Or 
haven't you Ix'en "just looking" for hats and lx?en enjoy- 
ing yourself when a clerk appeared and shadowed you around 
as if resenting your loitering? And didn't you in each case 
say in human fa.shion, "If I were the proprietor, I know 
what I would do." WTiat would you do with these two 
little observations of yours, if you were now given a chance 
to use them as manager of a department? Could your 
imagination lead you back to the point of view of the customer 
and could you thereby improve trade? 

A man once walked up the aisles of a furniture store, 
where long rows of dining-room chairs monotonously fined 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 33 

the passage. He went down similar long aisles, unending 
they seemed, of dressers and sideboards. He anticipated 
bringing his bride into this store the next day and together 
they were going to plan the furniture of their apartment. 
It was to be a lark for them to select their pieces. His 
spirit received something of a jolt as he surveyed this tedious 
display. ''If I were a furniture man," he thought, " 1 
would ..." 

And years after, he did. He remembered brides and 
grooms and their romantic expectations. He fitted up sun 
parlors and dens in which couples might rest in cosy comfort 
while they made new lists and talked things over. And all 
the time that they planned, they were unconsciously lead 
by the suggestive color schemes of the hangings to visit the 
drapery department on the floor below. He watched and 
studied the delight or disapproval of his customers and then 
exercised his imagination in order to please them and win 
their permanent trade. He remembered that the young 
girl loves soft, dainty things and that the bachelor prefers 
restful tones. All his success depended upon his acute in- 
sight into the tastes of his customers. 

And business is all more or less dependent upon this faculty 
of seeing what the customer sees, of feehng what the client 
feels. The power is dependent upon the imagination. 

EXERCISE 

Look up in the Readers' Guide under "Imagination" 
such magazine articles as "Dream behind the Business," 
"Economic Value of Imagination," etc. 

Making Others See What You See 

The spirit of the following letter is contagious. The 
reader is almost certain to be affected by the point of view 
of the writer. In fact, the writer counts on your seeing 
what he sees. He has chosen his tone, his details, his whole 
appeal, with that definite aim. 



34 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Dear Mr. : 

My father died when I was twelve years old — just at 
the impressionable age when I considered him the most 
wonderful man in the world. 

He left me a good name, a verj^ small legacy, a deal of 
the Scotch-Irish fighting spirit — and a wonderful picture 
of himself. I'm not ashamed to tell j-ou, Sir, that the 
photograph of Dad helped me over lots of rough places in 
the Road of Success. 

Many a time in the old days when I was fighting to get 
a toe-hold in the Big Town, I'd come to my little bedroom 
tired, discouraged, beaten. And, somehow, just a glance 
at those big, trusting eyes of Dad's ^^^th the tiny laugliing 
T^TJnkles 'round-about, would fill me with strength and 
determination. Then I'd pick up the handiest weapon, 
and start out again to take part in the battle. 

And now, about YOUR son. With all of your heart 
and soul, you want him to grow up a strong, decent, manly 
chap. He will l>e going away to school now in a few days. 
You cannot accompany him as a counselor, friend and pal. 
But you can send a wonderful support — your photograph. 

That boy of yours wants a real, man-like picture of his 
Dad — a photograph he can show to the fellows with a 
world of pride, and mayl)c a wee bit of a catch in his voice, 
as he .says, "That's Dad!" 

And he shall have it. For when you come to talk it over 
with me, we'll forget all about conventions and stifT-and- 
starchy things if you say .so, and just make a human, 
natural, real, life-Uke picture. I'm mighty fond of taking 
even>'day photographs, and I've notice<l tluit the work a 
man loves is quite apt to l)c pretty well done. 

Pcrhaiis it would be l)est to make an appointment this 
morning. There's a telephone on your desk and one on 
mine. My number is Main 2436. 

Truly yours, 

P. S. And of course YOU want a picture of the lad, in 
his new togs ^^^th the manly smile that sets your heart 
aglow. 'Twill keep j'ou up to par in the days to come. 
So bring him along. 

Reprinted from The Mailbag of December, 1917 



IIMLAGINATION IN BUSINESS 35 

Analyzing the Letter 

1. What is the chief appeal made in the letter? 

2. Has the writer imagination? 

3. Does he stimulate your imagination? In what sen- 

tences or words? 

4. What sort of words appeal to one's imagination? 

5. Underline the words which are suggestive. 

6. What color is this letter? 

An imaginative letter is never dull. One is never bored 
by pictures of familiar places or by words that summon up 
familiar associations. An imaginative writer makes you 
see what he sees by the magic of his details, the power of 
his words to conjure up pleasant memories. A dull letter, 
a duU conversation, a stupid interview are usually dull be- 
cause they lack imaginative coloring. 

Make Your Classmates See What You See! 
Describe specifically any of the following: 

1. A dull class hour. 

2. A dull half hour waiting for the car. 

3. A dull time at a party. 

4. A dull letter. 

5. A dull conversation. 

6. A dull theme read in class. 

Note. — Don't be dull yourself. 

Convince us by your details that any of the following 
were interesting: 

1. A half hour's wait for a train. 

2. A book review in an Enghsh class. 

3. An interview you overheard. 

4. A business letter. 

5. A book you read. 

Note. — Be interesting yourself. 



36 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

EXERCISE 

List ten synonyms for interesting and apply each to some 
noun. 

Theme Topics 

Write a theme on any of tlie following topics in language 
that will stir the reader's imagination: 

1. The bore in the classroom. 

2. The bored in the classroom. 

3. "The cnjo^-ment of unpleasant places." 

4. Looldng out of the window. 

5. A half hour's wait for a train with a keen observer. 

6. An apolog}' for eavesdropping on fhe street car. 

7. A recitation that aroused spontaneous applause. 

8. An imaginative pci-son's view of a crowd. 
0. The enjoyment of trivial things. 

10. Humor in an elevator. 

EXERCISE 

Rewrite the followmg student recitation in imaginative 
language. The student wa.s demonstrating a pocket kodak, 
protending he wa.s selling camera.s. Do you think he would 
induce you to tiy tiic wondcre of photography by his de- 
scription? In what parts of his recitation does he miss 
splendid opportunities to be picturesque? 

"/ am going to show rjou how to xrork thi.s little 
camera. You see that it is very stiiall bid its pictures 
are very good. It is venj convenient to take with you 
on a picnic; you can put it in your pocket. All you 
have to do is to push this lever and the camera opens. 
There is no difficulty about distance or anything. It 
?.v all ready to snap. You find your picture by looking 
into this little finder which turns aid. When you are 
ready, you push the snapper in and the jricture is 
taken. It is easy to load. The beauty of this camera 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 37 

is that it is convenient to carry and simple to operate. 
Who wants to he without a camera in summer?" 

Originality in Business 

In this strenuous age of ours, competition has extended 
into every phase of hfe. Men not only compete for trade; 
there is a Hvely commerce of ideas. Every day men are 
buying and selKng ideas for large sums of money. One 
man sells an idea for some new labor-saving device for 
thousands of dollars; another sells his idea for an original 
advertisement, a movie scenario, a funny supplement series. 
If one would keep abreast of his times he must be alive to 
this strenuous intellectual competition, to this exhilarating 
game of wits that goes on about him on the billboards, in 
the newspapers, and in the market. Perhaps an alert im- 
agination will earn at a single stroke a year's salary. 

It required no phenomenal genius to coin the word 
"Uneeda" or invent an apple corer. Yet the man who 
named a biscuit built up a $50,000,000 corporation. The 
story is told of a man in a cigar store swelling his cheek with 
chewing tobacco. Someone asked him if he had a tooth- 
ache and his reply, "That ain't a toothache, sir; that's 
Lucky Strike," made him rich. 

Ideas have made men rich. "One single idea may have 
greater weight than the labor of all men, animals and en- 
gines for a century" (Emerson). Hard work alone wUl not 
bring success. If a man can make a better mouse trap than 
his neighbor, the world will beat a path to his door, some- 
one said. Too few people join the quest for the original. 
"I'm not a genius" is our pet excuse for staying with the 
crowd. Neither was Woolworth, the man who originated 
the 5 and 10 cent store. A little incident in a country 
store suggested the idea. It occurred by chance; it might 
have occurred to a thousand others. He was an ordinary 
clerk. He was told to get rid of some odds and ends and 
he did it by putting up a sign "Anything on this counter 5^." 



38 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 
EXERCISE 
Is the following advertisement original? Interpret the 
picture in a theme. 




1894—1920 

The Most Elaborate Event In Our History 

Celebrates 

The Founding of 
The Young^Quinlan Company 

Twenty-six Years Ago 
With a 

Spring Openiog 
Monday 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 39 

Suggestive Material for Magazine Reference Work 

1. Idea hunting in business, McClure's, V. 45, p. 79, 

October, 1915. 

2. Getting the new way first, System, V. 27, pp. 127-132, 

February, 1915. 

3. Ideas, giant powder in business, System, V. 24, pp. 

451-453. 
4 Big fortunes from small ideas, Illustrated World, 
V. 26, pp. 574-579. 

5. Making money out of your ideas, System, V. 33, 

pp. 56-57, January, 1918. 

6. The man who at 28 suddenly had a great idea, Amer- 

ican Magazine, V. 84, pp. 52-53, October, 1917. 

7. Woolworth's story. World's Work, V. 25, pp. 659-665. 

8. Big dreams that come true, Everybody's, V. 35, p. 607. 

9. King of the ten cent bazaar, Current Opinion, V. 55, 

p. 211. 
10. Man who saw millions in a nickel, Literary Digest, 
V. 61, pp. 70-78, May 3, 1919. 

Note. — Look up other references to articles on "Ideas in 
Business." Consult the Reader's Guide under such words as: 
genius, originally, ideas, invention, advertising, etc. 

There are hundreds of small inventions which were sug- 
gested by some commonplace incident of a normal life. The 
man who invented the crimped hair pin asked his wife one 
day why she always bent her hair pins before putting them 
into her hair. Her reply that if she didn't, they would soon 
fall out was responsible for his patent. 

The man who originated the "hump" in hooks and eyes not 
only solved his own problem of hooking his wife's gown but 
that of millions of other husbands. And he made a fortune. 

A clerk in a pension office was so troubled by the number 
of papers he was required to put together that he invented a 
paper clip and made his fortune. 



40 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

A watcliful man aboat the house noticed that lemon juice 
became tainted by going through a metal squeezer. So he 
invented one of glass. These modest geniuses little guessed 
their reward for keen observation and imaginative thinking. 
And what they did, thousands of others might have done. 



Or.vl on Wriiten Theme Topics 

1. Ideas which might have been mine. 

Give examples of ideas you had, but didn't express 
before some one got ahead of j'ou. Choose simple 
ideas from home or school life. Make your point 
of view that it is often the first man, not the smartest 
man, who gets the crecht. 

2. It Paid to be Original. 

A story of a person of j-our acquaintance who 
profited, even though in only a small way, by his 
originality. 

3. My Own Original Idea. 

(a) A new kind of candy I invented. 
(6) A game I invented. 

(c) A story I created. 

(d) A piece of furniture I invented. 

(e) A word I coined. 
(/) A riddle I devised. 

(g) A charade I worked out. 

(h) A design I originated. 

(i) A garden I planned. 

(j) An original party I sugge.'^ted. 

(k) A method I devised for simplifying: 

(1) My chores. 

(2) My studying. 

(/) Any other idea not mentioned. 

4. Opportunities for any of the following to express 

originahty : 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 41 

(a) A clerk behind a counter. 

(6) A stenographer. 

(c) A cashier. 

(d) A mail carrier. 

(e) A milkman. 

5. OriginaHty in httle things is an expression of individ- 

uality. 

6. Originality in dress — a description of a person you 

know. 
Keep your eyes open for: 

(a) Magazine offers of prizes for definitions, names, 
titles, etc. Example, Life Magazine. 

(6) Commercial offers of prizes for names of prod- 
ucts, original recipes, etc. Example, Washing- 
ton Crisps recipe contest. 

(c) Miscellaneous puzzles, competitions, contests, 
etc., where original thinking is urged. 

Bring to class any notice you see of contest, prize, etc., for the 
class to work upon. 

Individuality in Business 

There are dozens of obvious reasons why it pays to keep 
out of the rut of the conventional, the common, the average. 
An applicant is remembered, a salesman secures attention, 
a merchant wins trade by avoiding the usual. 

Theme Topics 

1. Winning manners that set him out from the crowd. 

2. A vocabulary that is distinctive. 

3. Avoiding the usual makes one unusual. 

4. A salesman with personal magnetism. 

5. Her clothes expressed her personality. 

6. My first impression was a positive one. 

7. It paid to keep out of the rut. 

8. Vivid personalities I have known. 



42 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

9. An odd personality that won trade. 
10. She haunts the foreground, not the background. 

There are thousands of httle ways of breaking away from 
the crowd. Little mannerisms may easily be acquired by 
an honest attempt to avoid the trite and the commonplace. 
Each day there are a hundred chances for obsen^ation and 
imagination to set out our personalitj' from the dull back- 
ground of conuuonplaceness. 

Exercising Your Powers of Origixauty ix Small Ways 

1. Think up two novel ways of introducing strangers. 

You may supply any descriptive material you wish. 

2. Suppose you are sitting opposite a stranger in a 

restaurant and wish to open a convei'sation. Sug- 
gest three ways of opening it, barring any reference 
to food, weather, or the service. 

3. Write a friendly letter, avoiding any of the following: 

(a) enumeration of what you did since you wrote 
your last letter. (This does not mean you 
may not mention interesting incidents but 
you are to avoid cataloging incitlents accord- 
ing to time.) 

(6) apologies for delay in answering letter. 

(c) intimations that you have little to say. 

4. Take flown verbatim an average recitation of any 

student in any class. Rewrite so that it is an 
original recitation. 

5. Suggrst an original menu for a class picnic. Avoid 

weincrs, potato salad, lemonade and any other 
overworked items. 

6. Suggest an original reply to each of the following: 

(n) "How are you to-<lay?" 

(h) "Ix)vely weather we are having, isn't it?" 

7. Suggest an original title for any theme recently written 

which was headed with some coimnonplace, general 
title. 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 43 

8. Write an original conversation between clerk and 

customer. Make your clerk avoid trite and 
commonplace remarks. 

9. Make an apology for some slight offense with words 

that avoid the conventional. 
10. Accept a compliment, originally and gracefully avoid- 
ing the hackneyed. 

Platitudes : Express the same idea originally. 

1. "I understand you have a vacancy." 

2. "Is there something for you in silks?" 

3. "Are you waited on, Madam?" 

4. "There is good value in this goods, madam." 

5. "In reply to yours of the 5th instant, etc." 

6. "Thanking you in advance, etc." 

7. "Please write at your earliest convenience" 

8. "Can I show you something in linen?" 

9. " Is the lady of the house at home? " 

10. "I will just take a minute of your time, lady." 

Imitation 

Imitation has been called the suicide of the soul and yet 
we find many illustrations in history of men who received 
their first impetus to originaHty from imitation. Robert 
Louis Stevenson achieved much of his charm of style by 
imitating authors he admired. Often we find an invention 
superseded by a slight improvement. Some one borrowed 
the original idea and used his imagination to better it. We 
cannot escape from the influence of others into a realm of 
pure originality. There is no such thing. The power of 
suggestion is so subtle that we often claim complete origi- 
nality without recognizing our debt to countless ideas which 
gave us our start. Every new idea received its impulse 
from other ideas. One man may originate a part of a scheme, 
another man accepts it and adds his own contribution to it. 
The combination is original. Honesty impels the man to 



44 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

acknowledge his debt; such a debt does not detract from his 
own originahty. 

To develop originahty one must borrow from the great 
wealth of ideas and facts the human race is heir to. What 
others have done and thought is the stepping stone to what 
we may do or think. 

Learning to be Original through linTATioN 

L Make a note of five words or phrases you recently 
heard used in a specific or unusual sense and make 
an opportunitj^ for yourself to use them hkewise. 

2. Take the title of anj- book you sec on a shelf and write 

a theme on that title. Get your idea merely from 
the title. 

3. Take any idea you can get some one else to suggest for 

a class talk and improve it by adding, or subtracting, 
or changing content. 

4. In your next theme assignment imitate the style, tone, 

etc., of any author you arc fond of. Label your 
attempt as imitation. 

The most original persons are those who have the largest 
range of contact with the experiences of others. Only 
through such contact can suggestions for originahty come. 

Honesty of Authorship 

Honesty in most matters of conduct is apparent. There 
is, however, often found among "honest" people a loose 
sentiment regarding the borrowing and using of others' 
words and ideas. To u.'^e the words of another without 
giving credit to the author is cither careless or deliberate 
deception. If one is iione-st in quotation, he will acknowl- 
edge candidly his borrowings, cither by express statement or 
quotation marks. To accept credit for the whole of a com- 
position when but part of it is original is dishonest. If the 
idea is borrowed and the expression original such a division 



IMAGINATION IN BUSINESS 45 

of credit would be frankly acknowledgd by the fair-minded 
person; similarly, if the idea is original and the expression 
is that of another. 

It often happens, however, that some ideas of the past 
have become so well known that no quotation marks are 
necessary. One need not assign "To be or not to be" to 
Shakespeare; the world knows the author. We may all 
use this common heritage; no one would accuse me of 
plagiarism if I used this expression without giving Shake- 
speare the credit. 

Honesty in authorship is simply giving credit where credit 
is due. 

MiscELLAisnEOUs Theme Topics 

Develop Originally 

1. The Life of a Bank Check. — Visit a bank and observe 

and then write with the aid of your imagination a 
biography. Consult for details, Fisk, "Modern 
Banking." 

2. The Adventures of a Parcel. — After a visit to a post- 

office write a story with the title just suggested. 

3. A Movie of Market Street. — Visit a wholesale street 

or pubKc market early in the morning and then 
create a movie from the pictures that you are able 
to observe and color with your imagination. 

4. The Biography of a Daily Newspaper. — Do as in 

No. 1. 



CHAPTER III 
THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 

In every group, the class room, the party, the clique, 
the club, there is always the foreground and the background, 
the positive and the negative, the vivid and the dull. Every 
social gathering has its few who suggest, who urge, who bear 
responsibility for the good time, and the many who line the 
walls and look on hesitate and are led. In every class there 
are those who know positively what they think of this book 
or that figure in history and those whose mental sluggish- 
ness toward all matters which call for opinion is content 
with a feeble "Oh, I don't know." Too many people grow 
up without ever sensing their obligations to themselves and 
to the world to form dcfinito opinions on simple questions 
of no "particular importance" ami weighty (piestions that 
their opinions won't settle. They lack initiative, judg- 
ment; they have no ability to criticize, to rea.«on. 

"There can Ijc no fairer ambition than that to excel in talk; 
. . . to have a fact, a thought atul illustration pat to every 
subject; and not only to cheer the flight of time anwy\g our 
associates but bear a part in that great international coi\gress 
always sitting, where public urongs are first declared, public 
errors first corrected and the course of public opinion shaped 
day by day a little nearer to the right. No measure comes 
before Parliament l)ut it ha.-^ long ago In'en prepared by the 
Grand Jury of talkers: no book is written that has not l3een 
largely comiK)sed by their assistance." Thus Kol)ert I^uis 
Stevenson in his Ki<<iiy on "Talk and Talkers" describes 
the importance of forming definite opinions. 

40 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 47 

Theme Topics 

1. Wall flowers at a party. 

2. Students who volunteer recitations should receive 

extra credit. 

3. Doing more than was assigned for the lesson. 

4. Am I a ''self-starter" or do I have to be cranked? 

5. My share in the formation of pubHc opinion. 

6. "What is the use of my thinking about politics; my 

opinion won't settle any question." 

7. A "That reminds me" conversationalist. 

8. Good talk, the spice of life. 

9. Giving out as much as you take in. (In a conversa- 

tion.) 

One of the surest signals to an employer that you are 
deserving an increase in salary is evidence that you assume 
initiative; do something he has not told you to do; see what 
is to be done without its being pointed out to you; have a 
ready opinion on this letter or that advertisement when it 
is asked for. 

There is an old Arabian proverb which epitomizes this 
positive attitude of mind : 

"He that doesn't know and doesn't know that he doesn't 
know is a fool; shun him! 

He that doesn't know and knows that he doesn't know is 
simple; teach him! 

He that knows and doesn't know that he knows is asleep; 
wake him! 

He that knows and knows that he knows is wise; follow 
him." 

Theme Topics 

1. Asking questions when I know I don't know. 

2. My pride in knowing that I know. 

3. "I knew the answer all the time but I wasn't sure it 

was right." Did I know? 



48 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

4. Finding out what I don't know, the first step towards 

wisdom. 

5. The person who "guesses" he knows. 

One way to get into the fourth class is to assume the posi- 
tive attitude toward those things you are sure you know and 
step by step increase that definite attitude as your knowledge 
increases; to know what you know, know what you think, 
know positively what j-ou don't know, and then set about to 
learn. 

IvNOW WH.\T You Think! 

Write a theme on any of the following topics expressing 
your own opinions positively, definitely and concretely: 

1. The dre.ss of a business woman. 

2. Cash and carry. 

3. If I were a movie censor. 

4. Public ownfnship. 

5. An educated person, — what is he? 

6. Does it pay to "lx)ss"? 

7. How much money I need to make me happy. 

8. Fa.'^hion; commerce exploits the public. 

9. The spirit of an employee. 

10. The iKM-sonality of a sccretarj\ 

11. Tell n)c how you play, and I'll tell you what you are. 

12. "If you want a thing well done, don't do it yourself; 

hire an expert." The age of specialization. 

13. The dangers of specialization. 

14. The capacity for enjoying little things. 

15. Reading character from the face. 

16. Telephone courtesy. 

17. Building air casiles. 

18. The sort of clerks I like. 

19. "How to live on 24 hours a day." 

20. An office expressive of an employer's personality. 

21. If I were a freshman again. 

22. The voice of the city. (What does it say to you?) 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 49 

23. Personality, an asset in business. 

24. A business man needs hobbies. 

Can You Make Definite Criticisms? 

Exchange themes on one of the topics given above with 
a classmate. Analyze your opinions of his paper according 
to the following suggestions: 

1. Does the theme Kve up to its title? 

2. Has the theme a definite plan? Can you state it 

briefly or show the author that the plan is not clear? 

3. Is the theme interestingly written? What features 

are particularly interesting? Or, is the theme dull? 
Where does the author miss opportunities to be 
more interesting? What passages seem particularly 
dull? Why? 

4. Do you agree with the author's point of view? Do 

you take exception to any fact or opinion? Support 
your contentions if you have any, with concrete 
evidence. 

5. Does the author show particular originaHty of thought 

or distinctive quahties of style? Would you know 
this author again from his style of writing? 

6. What grade would you give the paper? Upon what 

quahties do you base your judgment? 

Write a well-knit criticism of your neighbor's paper based 
upon this analysis. Get examples of literary criticism from 
newspapers or magazines and imitate their method of com- 
posing a review. 

Forming Independent Judgments 

Imagine a concrete situation and write a story which will 
show what you would do and how you would do it, if : 

1. You had finished your work an hour before closing 
time. 



50 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. Your employer dictated a letter full of errors. 

3. You had been discharged from one position and were 

applying for another. 

4. You were a clerk and did not have what the customer 

asked for. 

5. You knew of a fellow-employee's dishonesty. 

6. You were left alone in the office for a day. 

7. Your employer asked you how nmch of an increase 

of pay you deserved and why. 

8. Your employer asked you your opinion of your rival 

in the office. 

9. You knew that the theme just read in class was not 

the work of the author. 

10. Your chum asked you to let her copy your problems. 

11. Your employer asked you to say he was out when he 

was in. 

12. Your employer c()ntra(hctcd you concerning a fact 

that you could prove was correct. 

13. You tiiought you ilcscrved an increase of salary. 

14. A customer was insuUing and patronizing. 

15. Your prosjx'ctive employer was about to call on the 

telephone the one teacher from whom you could 
exix*ct no good recommendation. A.ssume that by 
chance he knew this particular teacher and had 
asked if she knew you. 

How would you meet the following situations? Can you 
depend upon your initiative? 
To 1h^ dramatized: 

1. Place: Sweet's Candy Store. 
Time: 9 a.m. 
Cast: Manager. 

Girl applying for position. 
Situation: Manager enters balcony, looks over crowd 
of girls who have arrived in answer to an advertise- 
ment for a salesgirl. Dismis-ses them as too young. 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 51 

Girl lingers and tries to induce the manager to try 
her even though she is but seventeen. 

2. Place: Store of General Merchandise, silk counter. 
Cast: Clerk. 

Customer. 
Situation: Customer asks for a certain grade of silk. 
Clerk shows her "something else," trying to make a 
sale since she is out of that grade. Customer dis- 
covers ruse. Conversation follows. 

What would you say if you were the customer, and now 
could you get out of the dilemma if you were the clerk? 

3. Application in person for a position advertised. Sup- 

pose experience was required and you are just out 
of school. You think you can fill the position and 
have decided to apply regardless of your lack of 
experience. What would you say to the manager? 

4. A conversation over a telephone. You have recently 

accepted a position. You are now informed over 
the telephone of your appointment to a better one. 

The Power to Convince 

Success in business depends in no small measure upon one's 
ability to convince others. A student must learn not only 
to think for himself and to decide for himself, but he must 
learn also to persuade others of the validity of his opinions 
and the soundness of his judgments. 

Theme Topics 

1. A student whose manner is convincing. 

2. A recitation that did not carry conviction. 

3. A salesman with a persuasive tongue. 

4. Holding one's own in a parlor discussion. 

5. A good-natured argument, an exciting indoor sport. 

6. Why I should study debating. 

7. He chnched the argument. 



52 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

8. The fascination of the open forum. 

9. Persuasive tactics in business. 

10. A debate that was as thi-ilHng as a moving picture. 

Persuasion 

The power to convince is based upon persuasion and 
argument. Persuasion is broader than argument and in- 
cludes it. It adds a direct appeal to the feelings of those 
we mean to convince. Pei"suasion gets an audience to take 
an interest in the arguments presented. Having won your 
audience, you must present sound arguments ba.sed upon 
logic and reason. 

Arguments may be very simple or complex affairs, ranging 
from a wrangle on the phiygrountl over a disputed point 
to a dci^ate in Congrcss. But not all arguments, so-called, 
bear the marks of sound reasoning. A real argument is 
like a head-on collision between two trains coming on the 
same track from opposite directions. Most impromptu 
discussions are like two trains passing one another on dif- 
ferent tracks. In other words there is not a definite clash of 
opinion. The interpretation of the point under tliscussion 
is not unticrstood by the disputants. 

i:XKRCISK 

In the following arguments" decide whether there is a 
distinct chi^h of opinion; if not, show why not. Do a, b, c, 
dash with I? Do a, b, c, d, c cla.sh with II? 
I. Resolved: Women should have the vote as a mutter of 
democratic justice. 

Arguments against the proposition. 

(a) Women's place is in the home. 

(6) A woman's vote wouhl only duplicate the vote of 

the male member of her household, 
(c) Women already vote indirectly through the 

members of their family. 



. THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 53 

II. Resolved: Billboard advertising is a menace to the ap- 
pearance of the community. 

Arguments against the proposition. 

(a) Billboards amuse those who ride on street cars. 

(6) Billboards acquaint one with new products. 

(c) Theaters need billboards for their advertising. 

(d) Churches have used billboards. 

(e) Billboards cover up old scrap heaps, city dumps, 

vacant lots, etc. 

Understanding the Issue 

Before an argument may progress, it is necessary that 
both sides involved, understand the issue clearly. No 
differences of interpretation of the question should divert 
the energy of the argument. How many arguments would 
have been stopped immediately had the opponents first 
considered whether or not they were arguing about the same 
thing; and what embarrassment would have been saved 
had they discovered first, not last, that they agreed, not 



Theme Topics 

{To he assigned in advance in order that the students may 
gather actual material.) 

1. They argued for an hour only to find that they agreed. 

2. After a heated argument they forgot the original point 

under dispute. 

3. Before they realized it, they had shifted sides in the 

argument. 

4. He likes to start arguments but he cannot finish them. 

5. A chairman who kept the "trains on the track." 

It would be futile for two people to set out discussing 
"freedom of speech" until each had defined what he meant 
by "freedom." Do both accept absolute freedom? What 



54 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

limitations does each put upon the word? Until such defini- 
tions are settled it is idle to try to prove that "Freedom of 
speech is the bulwark of Democracy." 

EXERCISE 

In the following questions underiine the words that would 
have to be defined before a debate could proceed. Use 
these topics, also, for a prehminary exercise in debate, 
defining those parts of the question that need particular 
interpretation. 

1. In the long run honesty in business pays in dollars and 

cents. 

2. Henry Ford's profit-sharing plan is a step in the right 

direction. 

3. The daylight saving idea should be retained for large 

cities. 

4. Cash and Carr\' stores do not live up to their boasts of 

saving patrons money. 

Proof 

The average impromptu debate is a series of unproved 
assertions; the debatoi-s merely state their opinions with- 
out prox-ing the truth of their statements. 

A statement is proved by fads and inferences. A fact 
is a matter of concrete evidence. The sun shines, dogs 
cha.<=se cats, men build houses; these are facts easily demon- 
strated. An inference is a matter of opinion. That men are 
brave, that the "pen is mightier than the sword," that 
Caesar was greater than Napoleon, these are inferences only. 

One proves a statement by a combination of facts and 
inferences. For example, I can prove that a certain toy is 
red by actually producing the toy and thus establishing the 
fact of its redness. If I look in my pocket for my purse, 
however, and find that it is not there, it is not so ea.sily 
demonstrated what has become of it. In this case I may 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 55 

draw one of three inferences: (1) I forgot to put it there, 
(2) I lost it, or (3) it was stolen. I can estabUsh the fact 
that I put it in my pocket through the testimony of a friend 
who saw me put it there. I can further infer that I did not 
lose it because my pockets are deep and without holes. 
The next most logical inference from these facts and infer- 
ences, then, is that it was stolen. I must next seek facts to- 
establish this inference. Such going from facts to inferences 
and from inferences to facts is the basis of proof. 

EXERCISE 

Which of the following statements are arguments and 
which are mere assertions? 
Resolved: The consumer pays the cost of advertising in a 
higher cost of the article advertised. 

Proof 

1. Advertising increases competition and competition in 

turn lowers prices. (Negative.) 

2. A Merchant in Kansas City by an extensive adver- 

tisement of butter at 43 cents a pound was able to 
sell more butter and make more profit than v/hen 
he sold butter to fewer people at 67 cents a pound. 
(Negative.) 

Facts and Inferences 

EXERCISE 

Which are pure facts and which are inferences? Which 
statements can be established as facts? 

1. A dog is larger than a rabbit. 

2. Mary is a better student than John. 

3. Mary received better marks than John on his last 

report card. 

4. Jane likes ham. 

5. Washington crossed the Delaware. 



56 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

6. Cats drink milk. 

7. Skating is a better winter sport than tobogganing. 

8. Electric lights are more pleasing to the eye than 

kerosine lamps. 

9. Everyone should have his hobby. 

10. There are seven colors in the spectrmn. 

Complete proof is only theoretically obtainable. What 
we ordinarily mean by proof is the most conclusive evidence 
that can be obtained. Two people argue and the one who 
can get the best facts to support his case and draw the most 
logical inferences from those facts, wins the debate. 

Two Kinds of Evidence 

Personal cridcncc is the testimony of persons; circum- 
stantial evidence is the testimony of things. Both kinds of 
evidence are valid, but one may contradict the other. Per- 
sonal evidence is the testimony of a witness and its value 
depends upon the following considerations: 

(a) Is the witness of good character? 

(6) Is he comixitcnt to judge? 

(c) Is he prejudiced against cither side? 

(a) Only the testimony of a man who is likily to tell the 
truth, who i.3 reputed to have constantly told the truth in 
the past, is of any value in the setthng of a dispute. 

(6) The ability to observe closely and accurately is not 
the same in all people. Some eyes do not see correctly. 
We would not accept the testimony of a person who is 
partially blind a.s to how an automobile accident happened. 
Neither in the case of a holdup would we accept the testi- 
mony of a child alone. On the other hand we would accept 
the testimony of an electrician, in preference to that of a 
man who knew nothing of electricity, in the case of a house 
supposed to have lx?en set on fire l)y crossed wires. In all 
cases we have to consider carefully the competence of the 
person to judge accurately. 

(c) The prejudice of a witness for or against an issue is 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 57 

also of paramount importance. As soon as an advantage 
to the witness enters into the case under discussion, his 
testimony begins to lose its value. For example, a teacher of 
Latin is not an unbiased person to testify that the study of 
Latin is essential to the education of every child. A real 
estate man is not an unprejudiced witness to the fact that 
the house he wishes to sell is a bargain for the buyer. 

On the other hand, the value of a testimony increases as a 
disadvantage to the witness becomes apparent. If an in- 
surance man desiring to sell a policy declares that the poHcy 
which his rival company has to offer is a good one, his testi- 
mony becomes more valuable. 

EXERCISE 

Of what value are the opinions in the following cases? 
Analyze carefully and decide what other evidence would 
be needed to make the opinions have weight. 

1. A boy testijSes that his dog could not have bitten the 

Httle girl, for his dog has always been gentle and 
has never before bitten any one. 

2. A milkman declares that the milkman's strike was 

justified. 

3. The street car company testifies that it was the motor- 

man's fault that the woman was injured. 

4. A student contends that geometry never did him any 

good. 

5. A freshman asserts that high school is a dull place 

compared to grade school. 

6. The town bully maintains that we should go into 

Mexico and "clean things up." 

7. A woman testifies that her husband did not commit 

the theft. 

8. A salesman lauds the product of his rival. 

9. A republican disparages the democratic candidate. 
10. A democrat lauds the republican candidate. 



58 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Authority 

The bulk of our opinions depends upon the testimony of 
others. The evidence of authority, that is, of those who have 
already expressed themselves on the subject under discus- 
sion, is a branch of personal evidence and the branch that 
most of us rely on to prove om' points. We quote from 
newspapers, magazine articles, books, or any other "recog- 
nized" authority on a given subject when we wish to clinch 
our arguments. It is perfectly true that we must rely upon 
the observation of others who have better opportunities to 
judge, but one must not quote authority recklessly. One 
must apply the same tests to an authority as one does to a 
witness: is he of good standing, is he competent to judge, 
and is he unprejudiced enough to be able to speak the truth? 
Further, the person you arc trying to convince must recog- 
nize your authority. You know, for example, that Edison 
is an authority on electric lighting, but if your opponent 
docs not know tliat he is an authority, j'our quoting him 
will have little effect. 

KXERCISE 

What person's opinion on the following subjects would 
have most weight with you? Choose your "authority" 
on the basis of the tests suggested in the previous passage 
on authority and evidence. 

1. The value of literary societies. 

2. The busine.ss man's need for a college education? 

3. The number of credits needed for graduation. 

4. How to earn money while attending school. 

5. The dangers of a too specialized course of study. 

Circumstantial Evidence 

Things testify as well as people. A broken milk bottle 
on the side walk, a little girl looking back tearfully, testify, 
quite as clearly as words, to the mishap. 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 59 

EXERCISE 

1. Read a Sherlock Holmes story. Bring to class examples 
of circumstantial evidence. 

2- Pick out examples of accumulated circumstantial evi- 
dence, i.e. of several circumstances all pointing to 
the same conclusion. 

3. Similarly, find instances where circumstantial evidence 
contradicts itseK. 

Circumstantial and personal evidence may support or 
contradict each other. In the latter case the conclusion to 
be drawn will depend upon the value attached to each kind 
of evidence. Here is an example: Your cat clings bristling 
to a branch of a tree. A small boy with his dog stands under 
the tree, the dog barking, the boy laughing. You conclude 
that the boy's dog chased your cat. The boy, however, 
declares his dog is not at fault. In the face of the evidence 
so plainly expressed by. the circumstances you can hardly 
believe his statement. But just then your minister comes 
up and supports the boy's story by testifying he saw a strange 
dog chase your cat up the tree and that the boy and his dog 
had just driven off this intruder when you appeared on the 
scene. 

Logical Inference 

There are two well-known processes of reasoning. One 
method follows experiment, the other follows reflection. A 
child touches a hot stove and withdraws his hand quickly 
as he discovers that it is hot. He tries it again and perhaps 
a third or fourth time, each time with the same result. His 
experiments teach him, then, that a stove is hot. Thus he 
estabHshes from his experience the general truth that a stove 
is a hot thing. This process of reasoning is called induction; 
i.e. arriving at a general truth from particular experiments. 

Many such general truths have thus been arrived at 
through the whole experience of the race. Ice is cold, water 



60 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

is wet, iron is heavy; these are general truths arrived at 
through the experience of mankind. No one's experience 
has ever disproved them; so we accept them as generally 
true. As I approach a stall in the barn I immediately 
reflect, "horses are known to kick" (general truth). 
"This horse, then," I reason, " is also hkely to kick; I had 
better not go too close to his heels." This process of reason- 
ing, of going from the geyieral truth to the particular instance 
is called deduction. The two processes make up what we 
call logical reasoning. 

EXERCISE 

Determine which method of reasoning is employed in tne 
following instances; in each case point out the general 
proposition and the particular instance. 

1. Irishmen are reputed to be witty; John is an Irish- 

man; he is hkely to ho wittj'. 

2. Mary stayed up three nights in succession until ten 

o'clock. She was cross on each of the three follow- 
ing mornings. I guess late hours do not agree with 
her. 

3. Most women get married; I'll probably get married. 

4. Most boys like stories of adventure; Jack will no 

doubt like Stevenson's "Treasure Island." 

5. Ten representative students voted against abolishing 

football; I judge then that the students as a whole 
are against such a step. 

The greatest number of errors in reasoning arises from a 
tendency to make faulty inductions from experiences. For 
example, I argue, "Four persons in my neighborhood believe 
the iceman in our district to l>c dishonest; therefore he must 
be dishonest." Four testimonies, while significant, arc 
hanlly conclusive proof. Or again, I argue, "Municipal 
ownership has failed in San Francisco; therefore it would 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 61 

fail here." Here again is a conclusion based upon insufficient 
evidence. An induction must be drawn only from general 
experience. 

Reasoning by Analogy 

Suppose I say, "I have twice dreamed bad dreams after 
eating welsh rabbit late at night; welsh rabbit must dis- 
agree with me." This reasoning is inductive. Suppose I say 
further, " Since welsh rabbit disturbs my sleep, cheese eaten 
at night would doubtless have the same effect, as welsh 
rabbit is made chiefly of cheese." This last conclusion 
is called reasoning by analogy. I am assuming that similar 
causes will produce similar results. 

Again, I say, " Our school should have the quarter system; 
Chicago University has the quarter system; therefore our 
school should have it." The soundness of this argument 
would depend upon two other considerations: (1) Are con- 
ditions in Chicago similar to those in our school? (2) Was 
the quarter system successful in Chicago? The accuracy 
of my analogy would depend upon the likeness of the two 
cases compared. 

EXERCISE 

Test the accuracy of the following conclusions drawn from 
analogies : 

1. I should not be given a Failure in Chemistry just 

because I failed in the test. John Smith failed 
in the test and he did not receive a Failure for the 
term. 

2. I ought to get 18 dollars a week to start with. Mary 

who is no older than I gets that, and so I think I 
ought to demand the same amount. 

3. I ought not to have to support myself; no other boy 

in our neighborhood supports himself; why should 
I have to? 



62 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Summary 

An argument is carried on by facts and inferences; in- 
ferences are drawn by induction, deduction, or analogy. 
A real argument aims to collect facts in support of inferences 
and to infer correctly from facts collected. Proof depends 
upon the comparative strength of facts and inferences given 
on both sides 

The Brief 

The form of the formal debate is technically known as 
a "Brief." It is a brief analysis of the main assertion in 
complete statements. It works backwards from the main 
assertion. 

Illustration of a Brief 

Resolved: Women should have uniform dress. 

Afiirmative argument : 

1. It would mean economy for women. 

(a) Women would not have to compote with other 

women who dress Ixitter than thoy do. 

(b) Women could jiay more for durable material 

and loss for occontric stylos. 

2. It would make women think of other things than 

clothes, 
(a) At present too many women's thoughts are taken 
up with styles. 

3. It would moan greater social democracy for women, 
(a) Under present conditions many women are snob- 
bish in the matter of clothes and judge worth 
superficially. 

Note that in the Brief: (l) all statements are complete 
statements; (2) each main statement is supported by a 
sub-statement. In longer and more complioatod debates, 
each sub-topic would be supported by illustrations and 
more facts. 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 63 

Topics foe Debate 
Before debating, analyze the question in ^^ Brief '^ form. 

1. Men and women should receive the same wages for 

equivalent work. 

2. "Criticism can only come from above." 

3. Service rendered, not time spent, should be the basis 

of wages. 

4. Employers have no right to dictate concerning the 

dress, savings, and habits of employees. 

5. The tipping system degrades human nature. 

6. There should be no servants in a modern society; 

i.e. aU work in the household should be done by the 
day, and the social classification of maids and 
servants, etc. should be done away with. 

7. Moving picture theaters should be under state or city 

control in order that no commercial gain should 
prostitute the art and education possible in moving 
pictures. 

8. Newspapers should be independent of their adver- 

tisers. 

9. Commercial competition is the cause of eccentric 

styles in women's clothing. 
10. The board of Trade contributes no real service to 
business. 

Discussion According to Parliamentary Law 

In order that students may learn to discuss intelligently 
questions that will arise at business meetings of various 
sorts, some of the debates suggested in the previous section 
may be prepared so that they can be carried on according 
to parHamentary rules. The following outline of parlia- 
mentary procedure will give simple directions to the chair- 
man of the meeting and to the students who carry on dis- 
cussion; '^ 



64 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

1. Organization: 

(a) Assuming that your teacher is temporary chair- 
man, nominate from one of your number, a 
permanent chairman. 

(6) Vote for chairman by rising vote. 

(c) The elected chairman should: 

(1) Appoint a secretarj^ to keep minutes. 

(2) Explain the purpose of the meeting. 

(To discuss and vote upon the merits of 
some one of the debating topics.) 

2. Order of business: 

(a) If the meeting is the first meeting, new business 
(that is the topic to be discussed) is presented 
after (1) and (2) of (c) under Organization. 

Q)) If the meeting is a second or third of a series, the 
following is the order of business: 

(1) Minutes of last mooting road and ap- 

proved. 

(2) Reports of committoos. (A committoc 

might have boon appointed to look up 
information.) 

(3) Unfinished business. 

(4) New business. 

(5) Adjournment. 

3. Dulics of presiding officer: 

(a) Call meeting to order. 

(6) Call for minutes, reports etc. 

(c) Recognize speakers, keep order in debate and 

limit the time of .speakers. 

(d) Decide points of order. 

(e) Put questions to vote and announce decision. 
(/) If chairman wishes to debate, he may ask a 

memlxT to preside during his sfXM^ch. 
(g) In case of a tie vote he may cast his vote. 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 65 

4. When debate is in order: 

(a) Debate is not in order until a motion is moved 
and seconded. (Some one in the class must 
move that the question as he states it should 
be the sentiment of the class.) 

(6) Usually the person who makes the motion is 
entitled to speak first. 

(c) No one except the person who made the motion 

may speak a second time until everyone has 
had a chance to speak. 

(d) The following are not debatable but must be 

voted upon without debate: 

(1) Motion to adjourn. 

(2) Motion to take recess. 

(3) Motion to lay question on table .until 

next meeting. 

(4) Motion to vote on question. 

(5) Motion to withdraw question. 

(6) Motion to suspend rules. 

(7) A point of order. 

5. When a motion is in order: 

(a) One question must be disposed of at a time; 
no motion on a new question is in order until 
the first is disposed of. 

(6) A person may ''rise to a point of order" at any 
time, even interrupting the speaker; i.e. he 
may raise the question as to whether the dis- 
cussion is being carried on according to Par- 
liamentary Law. 

(c) A motion to adjourn must be made only when 
no one is speaking. 

6. Motions relating to main question: 

(a) A motion to amend motion (to restate question). 

(b) A motion to postpone consideration. 



66 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

(c) A motion to refer question to committee. 

(d) A motion to lay question on table, i.e. to lay 

aside until future meeting. 

7. Amendments: 

(a) An amendment should be stated thus: "I move 
that the motion be amended by striking out 
the last two words in paragraph I . . . etc., so 
that the motion as amended will read, " 

(6) An amendment may be offered to a proposed 
amendment but no amendment should be 
offered to a proposed amendment of a pro- 
posed amendment. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES 

I. How would you answer the following communications 
addressed to a daily paper? In a theme let your judgment 
and logic be apparent. 

I. The Ilorus of Work 

To the Editor of The Journnl: 

Is there no plea.surc in work, no satisfaction in achieving and 
acconipli-shinp, tliat .so many thousands arc struRKhng and striving 
to reduce the hours of labor to the very lowest point? Is Edison 
our one great exception, wlio from pure love of labor works 16 to 
18 hours of the 24? Is one happier with so many hours of leisure 
daily on his hands? Cannot a person develop strength of char- 
acter, concentration, poise, higli ideals and good common sense 
in the factor>' and workshop; why this great and constant struggle 
for an 8-hour day, and a 44-hour week? Is work something 
to \)c shunned and dreaded? Cannot somethinR be done to incul- 
cate in our growing boys and girls ideals of service, an ideal of 
making each waking hour one of profit to himself or to some one 
else? Can it not be a part of the school curriculum in teaching 
patriotism and Americanism? Do we need 124 hours each week 
for rest and recreation with only 44 or 4S hours of work per week ? 
Ix?isure is exix^nsive usually, so few can use so much leisure wisely 



THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE OF MIND 67 

and well. Did the agricultural class demand so much leisure, 
food-stuffs would certainly be scarcer and dearer than at present. 

— One who believes in work. 

II. Here is a Real Mystery 

To the Editor of The Journal: 

Can any one teU me why young women doing housework are 
looked down upon any more than those working in stores? Why 
aren't the men interested in refined, intelhgent girls that know 
how to keep house and work? I am a good looking, intelligent 
young woman of 24. I do domestic work for a lovely family in 
the Kenwood district. My work is interesting to me. My work- 
ing conditions are excellent. I have the very best of food — a 
much better hving than I would have were I to work uptown and 
pay from $6 to $8 for my board and room every week. I can 
afford to wear good styhsh clothes. I hke books, enjoy concerts 
and the movies; in fact I am a very up-to-date young woman. 
But whenever and wherever I go it is always alone. Wliile on the 
street car and at the mo"\des I can see dozens of cheap looking, 
shabbily dressed girls, painted and powdered, and all seem to 
have plenty of friends. Whenever I happen to be in a gathering of 
young folks the fact that I am somebody's maid is against me. 
There are real ladies doing the work I am doing, and it isn't be- 
cause they haven't brains enough to do anything else. It is 
because they see the advantage they have over working in a store 
or factory. But one thing is sure. There is no chance for us to 
have the companionship and friendship of young men which aU 
girls naturally like, because the men would rather spend their 
time with girls that make a meager hving in a store or factory and 
buy their clothes on the instalment plan, than with practical, 
capable young women that are not ashamed to do the work that 
nets them the best hving and most money. 

— One of the ''Tillies:' 

II. What would be your answer to the following state- 
ments? 

1. (a) I should not be fined; for I did not know I was 
breaking the law. 
(6) I should not fail; for I didn't hear the assignment 
given. 



68 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. (a) I ought not to be punished ; for I am not as bad as 

many who are not caught. 
(6) I ought not to suffer punishment for copying my 
theme from a book; for others in the class did 
the same thing but the teacher didn't catch them. 

3. "You needn't blame me," said 'the real estate man to 

the dissatisfied customer. "You saw the property 
yourself. It's your own look-out to see that the 
plumbing is all right. You didn't ask me anj-lhing 
about it. You're supposed to know what you are 
buying." 

Note. — Take the customer's part. 

4. "If a cashier short changes himself, it's his own look- 

out. I'm not paid to discover his orroi-s." 

5. "I tried my best," said the employee just discharged. 
"But your best isn't good enough," replied the employer 

kindly. (Finish the conversation realistically.) 

The world needs more and more men and women of quick 
and sure judgments, indivichials with minds of their own. 
It was well enough, jx^rhaps, in our forefather's day to let 
king and father and employer think for us; but kings and 
rulci-s and ma-stei-s are old fashioned to-day. The individual 
mind plays a far more imiMjrtant part in the world of alTairs 
than was thought ix)s,sible yeare ago. Our complex industrial 
life needs more intelligent cooperation and less dogmatic 
supervision. The progressive employee is not a tlumb cog 
in the wheel but an alert sharer of responsibility. Youth of 
to-day will .see in the employee of to-morrow much more 
of this individual assert iveness. If you would keep abreast 
of progressive tendencies, learn to use your mind, your will, 
your i)ersonaUty. 



rHAPTER IV 
BETTER ENGLISH FOR THE BUSINESS STUDENT 

People often say, "I know, but I can't express it." It is 
doubtful whether the people who make this remark do 
" know," except in a very vague sense. It is contentment 
with an inadequate vocabulary and inaccuracy of expres- 
sion which encourages cloudy thinking. We do not first 
possess completed thoughts and then express them. The 
act of expression is thinking. If one has words into which 
to cast his thoughts, he will be the better able to receive new 
ideas. A housewife ceases her jelly making for lack of jelly 
glasses. The average mind soon fills up its thought recep- 
tacles and stops thinking. 

The war revealed an astonishing amount of verbal inac- 
curacy among the American population. Letters of inquiry 
to the War Department showed among the American born 
alarming ignorance of their own language. Such errors as 
the following raise a laugh, until. we begin to reflect what 
mental deficiencies lie behind them. 

1. He was inducted into the surface (meaning — service). 

2. I was discharged from the army for a goiter which I 

was sent home for. 

3. I am his wife and only air (heir) . 

4. Please correct my name as I could not go under a con- 

sumed name (assumed) . 

5. Both sides of my parents are old and poor. 

These examples illustrate types of errors that are common 
among our so-called educated American people. A half 
knowledge, a semi-correctneSs has been for the lazy American 



70 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

public, sufficient. Careless pronunciation, leading to inevi- 
table confusion in spelling, has fostered such absurdities as 
in examples 1, 3, and 4. Sentences 2 and 5 illustrate the in- 
accuracy of thought which loose structure always produces. 
It might be thought, perhaps, that such poor speech is 
confined to ignorant and careless people in their careless 
moments. But a little attention to what is being spoken 
on every hand brings the conviction that bad English is a 
very common evil. It is to be heard in the school room as 
well as on the street corner. Here, for example, are some 
recitations in high school classes which were taken down 
word for word. 

1. Teacher in a Civics class: "Can you explain how productivity 
is limited by capital?" . 

Student: "If ire don't have capital, we would be unable to pro- 
duce large quantities of grain or steel products. Like we 
export a great deal of steel to Europe and if we didn't 
have capital, we would not be able to carry on this trade." 

Analyze the inaccuracy of thought antl expression of this 
extract. The following suggestions may help j'ou. 

(a) "We" — explain the loose thinking in the use 
of the word "we." 

(6) "grain or steel products" — does this limiting of 
products indicate a feeble vocabulary? Sug- 
gest a more comprehensive expression. 

(c) "Like we" etc. — does this connective word 

indicate incoherence of thought as well as 
of expression? How? 

(d) "and if wo didn't have capital" etc. — does this 

student explain the matter at all? 

(e) In concise acoirate language, revi.se this recita- 

tion attempting to make your expression 
indicative of your power to think coherently 
and accurately. 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 71 

2. Teacher in a History class: "Name the different methods 
employed by the Federal Government to raise money dur- 
ing the Civil War." 

Student: "First, the Government, it printed a lot of paper 
money that was worthless and it sold some government 
bonds that could be paid in ten years, and they put a tariff 
on everything and imposed internal taxes on all kinds of 
hquors and tobaccos and they established the National 
Bank and put import duties on everything that came 
into the country." 
(a) Explain the inaccuracy of each italicized 



(b) Re-group the items of this answer in such a way 
as to bring together related ideas. 
3. The following extract is from a recitation in Commercial 
Law. If you knew nothing about an "undisclosed 
principal" would this student's explanation enlighten 
you? 

Teacher: "What is an undisclosed principal? " 

Student: "He is a man who has an agent work for him who 

doesn't know that he is in the contract." 
Teacher: "You are not clear. Illustrate." 
Student: "When the principal is undisclosed at the time the 

contract is made, but it is later found that he is the principal, 

he wiU be held hable." 

Look up for yourself the meaning of "undisclosed prin- 
cipal" and define it in clear, simple language. Assume 
that you are explaining to one totally ignorant of the mean- 
ing of the phrase. 

An examination of these recitations shows that the students 
who were talking did not think straight and did not help 
those to whom they spoke to think straight. Poor English 
and poor thinking go hand in hand. 

Since clear thinking is necessary in business, the business 
man should regard poor English as he regards poor equip- 
ment. Marshall Field and Company of Chicago may be 



72 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

cited as a large business house which has this view. In 
expressing his aim to raise the level of the Enghsh of the 
store emploj^ees, one of the educational directors says, 
" We appreciate the advantage that an adequate vocabulary 
and the ability to speak simple and correct English give to 
the man or woman in the retail selling world." The following 
list of errors posted in the employees' rest rooms shows some- 
thing of the sort of reform which the company is attempting. 

HE.U^D ABOUT THE HOUSE 

IN'CORRECT CORRECT 

Isn't that hat ■perfectly awful.* . unbecoming or in bad taste 

He come lie came 

He doju: lie did 

You was you were 

He don't lie doesn't 

I kin I can 

I've got I have 

[ ain't seen I haven't seen 

He is some better somewhat 

You look hadhj look bad 

He is light complected ha.s light complexion 

Transfer tliis party this call 

These shoes wear good wear well 

What kind, latlyf What kind, madam. 

John, he John 

thetn goods .... . . .those goods 

tliis here piece. . . . .this piece 

Goivr'metU (iovcrnment 

enUiused enthusiastic 

swell . . lovely 

hadn't ought-o . . . ought not or should not 

hiuit burst 

ain't isn't 

gonto going to 

have went have gone 

Beginning our sentences with "Say" or "Listen." 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 73 

EXERCISE 

1. Imitate this idea with a "Heard about the Sehooh" 

Compile such a Hst to be posted on your blackboard. 

2. Make a similar Hst for your own uses. 

3. Plan a "Better English Campaign" fcr ycr.r school 

or classroom. 

(See Chapter on Advertising under "Problems in Adver- 
tising.") 

Better English in business depends, of course, upon better 
English being taught in school; but it after all depends 
chiefly upon better Enghsh "Out of School." I am thinking 
of a student whose grades in her English classes were the 
highest. Her themes were excellent and her speech in class 
was flawless. Some months after her graduation I dis- 
covered her working in a five and ten cent store. The 
stimulation for correct and fine speech was gone; there were 
no themes to be handed in and no teacher to mark oral 
themes. But there was a public to judge and in this case a 
teacher to overhear her cheap inaccuracies which street 
slang condones. Her correct speech in the classroom had 
evidently been offered solely for a grade. Had she really 
cared about her speech at all? I recall with what embarrass- 
ment she recognized me and how she quickly began to ex- 
plain to me that, "I just took this job until I can find a better 
one." But as long as her language remained as cheap as 
the wares she sold, the better position of which she dreamed 
was likely never to be hers. 

So it must be remembered by students that no one but 
themselves can improve their speech. Teachers may en- 
courage, set an example, correct and suggest, but the mastery 
of English comes through the individual's efforts. 

An Outline for Definite Self-Help Toward Better English 

Remember that carefulness in the writing you do is not 
enough. Your chief practice is in your daily speech. Care 



74 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

in your daily speech is the basis for all improvement in 
English. Here are some simple things to do. It is not 
pretended that these are a complete guide to perfection but 
we climb towards perfection not by vague strivings but by 
steps wliich can be measured. Force yourself to take these 
steps and you can count on covering much of the ground 
toward your goal. 

You will need to own as tools the following books. Get 
them. Use them. 

1. A dictionary. Don't rely upon any dictionary of less 

size than Webster's "Intercollegiate Dictionary," 
or Funk and Wagnall's, "Students' Standard." 

2. A dictionary' of synonj-ms. These are excellent: 

Fernald's, "Englit^h Synonj'ms"; Rogct's, "Thesau- 
rus." 

3. An English Grammar. Whitncj''s "English Granmiar " 

is scr\'iccable. 

4. A composition manual such as Woollcy's "Handbook 

of Composition." 

I, Pronunciation 

Foreigners often complain that American voices arc un- 
plea.*^antly shrill and na.'^al. There is truth in this complaint. 
Now here is an opjwrt unity to help oneself. Wc all like to 
hear a low-pitched, well modulated voice. Anj^one with 
little care can cultivate a lx?ttcr speaking voice. The effort 
is decidedly worth the making. 

All of us mispronounce words. Of course it is not strange 
that we should stumble over a difficult new word, but the 
truly surprising thing is that wc make mistakes in uttering 
the common words we u.se often. For instance, many 
people do not pronounce the following words correctly: 
Attierican, govertimeyU, Tuesday, allies, hundred. 

Arc you sure that you pronounce the above words cor- 
rectly? If you are not, then the dictionary' will help you to 
learn the correct way to utter them. SupiKJsc we look up 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 75 

the word supernatural. In my dictionary immediately 
following the word supernatural, I find the term reprinted 
in this fashion, su-per-nat' u-ral. These marks, -, ^, ', -, 
which show how the word is to be pronounced, are called 
diacritical marks. Their meaning is explained in a table. 
We must understand what these diacritical marks mean, 
if we are to use a dictionary in learning how to pronounce 
words. 

EXERCISE 

Look up in a dictionary the pronunciation of the following 
words. Copy down on a slip of paper each word with its 
diacritical markings. Read the list aloud, pronouncing and 
accenting' each word correctly. 



advertise 


illustrate 


library 


secretary 


advertisement 


illustration 


athletic 


partner 


alternate 


irrevocable 


laboratory 


cemetery 


admirable 


asked 


idea 


candidate 


envelope 


artic 


perhaps 


squalor 




Consonants 





No one who is trying to speak better ought to slur over 
the final consonants, saying swimmin for swimming or 
somethin for something. Pronounce your consonants dis- 
tinctly. Practise on these. 



1. 

2. 


subscribe 
Most of them. 


6. 

7. 


get yom 
would have 


3. 

4. 
5. 


got them 

going 

with 


8. 

9. 

10. 


gi?;e me 

and 

liked them 



Vowels 

Most of us mistreat some of the vowel sounds. Since our 
bad habits in this respect are apt to be pretty deeply rooted 
by years of mistakes, it is only by a constant carefulness 



76 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

that we can come to use the correct sound. It is not the 
intention here to explain all the errors we are prone to. If 
a person begins to paj^ attention to such matters, he wiU 
discover for himself what effort he needs to make. Making 
the start in self-correction is the chief need. Are you sure 
you give the correct values to the vowels in the following 
words? See how your dictionary' indicates these vowels are 
to be sounded. 



asked 


duty 


institute 


soot 


boulevard 


aunt 


Tuesday 


constitution 


roof 


magnitude 


can 


tube 


tutor 


root 


adult 


new 


duke 


tune 


bouquet 


bade 


since 


student 


coupon 


hoof 


creek 



It is an excellent plan to look over lists of ''Words often 
Mispronounced." Woolley's "Handbook of Composition," 
for instance, has such a list. We are often surprised to find 
on looking through such a list that we have been mispro- 
nouncing a word. Another way of discovering habitual 
mispronunciations of which we are unaware is to ask a 
member of the family or a friend to call our attention to our 
mistakes. A pei-son should keep his temper when he is 
thus corrected. 

EXERCISES 

1. Afake a plan for self-liclp in better speech. 

Suggestion: I^ct your plan be simple rather than elabo- 
rate. Aim at getting started in the way of more careful 
sjxjaking, rather than seeking immediate perfection. 

2. Make a list of "Words I Often Mispronounce." 

3. Devise a chart of some of the vowel sounds which I rap 

the average student. Make it of such a nature 
that it can Ik* used in your classroom. 

4. Suggest ways in which the members of the class can aid 

each othor. 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 77 

5. Suggest interesting class contests in pronunciation. 

The plan of the "spelling bee " can be adapted to such 
ends. 

6. Write a theme explaining how you have started to help 

yourself to speak more correctly. 

II. Getting a better vocabulary 

The greatest reason why a person should not remain con- 
tented with a small stock of words is that a small stock of 
words usually means a small stock of ideas. If a person is 
content to live in a world of limited ideas, then he has no 
concern with an effort to increase his range of vocabulary; 
but if he is not content so to restrict his mental horizon, 
then he will set himself earnestly to making himself master 
of more words. 



The Power of Words to Suggest Thoughts 

Illustration 

Kleptomania: Suppose this to be a new word I have just 
looked up in the dictionary. I find it means a mania for 
stealing. I am surprised to find, let us suppose, that there 
is this actual form of insanity; that people become un- 
balanced over the idea of taking things. How then, I 
reflect, can a judge be sure in pronouncing sentence that a 
prisoner is accountable for his acts? How many criminals 
are criminally insane, I begin to ponder, and how does the 
new school of social workers test for kleptomania? In the 
light of this new knowledge of mental tendencies, should 
crime be treated as a disease? And so I move on from idea 
to idea, all suggested by a single word. In order to under- 
stand the word I must take into account new ideas, and 
simultaneously with my acquisition of this new word, I am 
led to entertain new ideas, new questions which lead to new 
ideas, etc. 



■8 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



EXERCISE 
Add the following words to your vocabulary by 

1. Consulting the dictionary, 

2. Getting some one to illustrate their usage, 

3. Using them yourseK. 

lithograph 
carniverous 
vei-satile 
matrix 



psychology 

propaganda 

nonchalence 

finesse 

requiem 



occult 

chronology 

inspiration 

missile 

dictaphone 



radical 

dilapidated 

penance 

insatiable 

sanctuary 



Of course it will be quickly seen that random lists of 
words suggest onlj- random ideas. The last exercise was 
intended only to illustrate how interest inglj^ ideas are tied 
to words. It was not intended to suggest that a practical 
and wise way to enlarge the vocabularj^ is by looking up the 
meanings of miscellaneous words. The true way to gain 
new words is to put oneself in the way of new ideas which 
rcfiuire now words for their expression. To hear and to 
read and to think are the only ways of doing this. 

Yet while one is learning new ideas, and cons(>quently new 
words, through hearing and reading and thinking, one can 
accompany these basic means of increasing the vocabulary 
by various useful methods of direct study of words. It 
will soon be discovered, perhaps with surprise, that words 
in themselves are interesting. The dictionary will help to 
uncover fascinating histories of the words we use. For 
instance there is the word, }n'Ihj. Now this word came to 
us from the Anglo-Saxon where it had the form, snelig. It 
once meant blessed. How did a word meaning " blessed" 
takeon its present meaning of "foolish," "witless," "simple"? 
We know that primitive peoples regard the weak-minded 
as the especial wards of provideTice. This at once sug- 
gests tlie explanati(»n of the mystery. Countless other words 
have equally interesting histories. 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 79 



See what the dictionary tells of the history of the follow- 
ing words : 



1. 



silhouette 


bedlam 


curfew 


seance 


italics 


sophomore 


neat 


telegraph 


journal 


panic 


dandehon 


salary 


cambric 


senate 


soprano 


hiss 


lunatic 


circus 


cuckoo 


Theodore 
EXERCISE 


tantalize 


Find ten words which imitate 


sounds. Illustration 



2. 



whiz. 
Present orally to the class all the information your 
dictionary gives concerning some interesting word. 

3. Prove that all the words found in a dictionary cannot 

be properly used by a present day writer. 

4. Define and illustrate the meaning of an obsolete word. 

5. Read a chapter in the interesting book, "Words and 

their Ways in EngHsh Speech," by Greenough and 
Kittredge. 

An excellently practical method of increasing one's vocabu- 
lary is to find synonyms (words of like meaning) for words 
already known. Sometimes students who shuffle along in 
their speech with a meager vocabulary ask "What is the use 
of knowing several words that mean the same thing?" In 
any group of synonyms it is true there will be a certain com- 
mon ground; within this territory these synonjons may be 
used interchangeably; but there is also a certain Line of 
meaning where each differs from the others, though ever so 
slightly. Take the word "pure" and its thirty-seven 
synonyms : 

Absolute, chaste, classic, classical, clean, clear, continent, 
fair, genuine, guileless, guiltless, holy, immaculate, incorrupt, 



80 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

innocent, mere, perfect, real, sheer, sinless, spotless, stain- 
less, true, unadulterated, unblemished, undefiled, unmangled, 
unmixed, unpolluted, unspotted, unsullied, untainted, un- 
tarnished, upright, virtuous. 

I say, "That is pure nonsense; she is a pure soul; I have a 
pure product; I drink pure water; this is pure swindle; 
that is a pure democracy, etc.," using the same adjective 
to apply to a variet}^ of ideas. I might have given finer 
accuracy to my meaning had I said "That is sheer nonsense; 
she is an upright soul, etc. etc., finding from the above list 
of synonyms the exact shade of meaning required and thus 
avoiding the monotony of the same word for so many mean- 
ings. 

EXERCISE 

Use the adjectives given above in sentences. 

Care in the choice of our adjectives gives a fresh pleasing 
tone to our style that lifts it alx)ve the commonplace. 
Variety in speech is a delight and its accomplishment is a 
worthy object of painstaking endeavor. Too many people's 
style is spoiled by this monotony of diction. A word which 
is good in moderate u.«e l)ccomes a symbol of dullness when 
repeated lazily. 

"We were greatly surprised to sec so great a crowd of 
people a.«vsembled. cvitlently for some great occasion. On 
inquir>% we learned that a great man was to address the 
people on a subject of great interest. The great size of the 
field which sloped like an amphitheater enabled the great 
crowd to hear everj' word with great ease and all listened with 
great attention to the great thoughts presented." ^ 

A very lazy habit most of us have is that of using on all 
occasions a word like "good," a word from which we trust 
our hearers to pick out the sense we intend to convey. Such 
words, simple as they may .seem, are really the hardest words 

' FiTnalfl's I'-xDri'ssivc Knclish." 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 81 

to define. They are used too often because their meaning 
is very flexible and we are too lazy to be more ^xphcit. 

Such a word as "give," is often the easiest word to say 
when we may mean bestow, confer, deliver, furnish, grant, 
'present, supply. 

The recent war contributed the very picturesque word 
camouflage which became the favorite word of so many 
people that it soon lost its charm. Every little while an 
admired author employs some word so aptly that it fixes 
itself in the public mind and after that everybody uses it 
until it loses its force. To use such a word after it has be- 
come trite makes your style of conversation and writing dull 
and flat. ''Beware your favorite word" might be a maxim 
worth remembering. 

EXERCISES 

1. Add the following adjectives to your vocabulary and 
aim to use them with accuracy in place of some of 
the more hackneyed expressions you habitually use. 



fantastic 


ramshackle 


soUtary 


scintillating 


taut 


luxuriant 


perturbed 


petulant 


pallid 


pusillanimous 


crabbed 


fell 



Continue to add five adjectives a week to your vocabulary. 
A contest might be held at the end of four or five weeks 
to see what members of the class can use successfully the 
largest number of adjectives in a selected Ust. A sort of 
class party where conversation takes the place of regular 
class routine might give a better stimulus for the use of 
such words. 

2. Rewrite the paragraph given on page 80 substituting 

some more specific word for each ''great." 

3. Which of the following words do you abuse, thus 

spoiling their effective meaning? 



82 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



splendid 


regular 


fine 


horrid 


adorable 


wonderful 


clever 


interesting 


sweet 


awful 


perfect 


terrible 



Give five synonyms for each in five specific uses. 

EXERCISES IN THE USE OF A DICTIONARY 
OF SYNOXY^IS 

1. Collect synonyms for each of the following words. 

speak building dull 

poor get strike 

selfish walk large 

rude ask free 

Note. — Roget's " Thesaurus " should be consulted in 
gathering these synonyms. 

2. Distinguish between the meaning of the following: 

pupil, scholar, student. 

3. Do the .same for the synonyms collected for Exercise I. 

4. Without consulting a dictionary or dictionary of 

synonyms list all the .synonyms you can recall for 
any word given by another member of the cla.«;s. 
Then consult a dictionary' of synonyms and compare 
the two H.sts. 

5. Arrange a contest for the cla.ss in synonym-getting. 

III. Better sentences 

Next to a meager vocabularj', the surest sign of a poor 
command over language is to be found in the sentence 
forms we employ. I am not thinking here .so much of gram- 
matical errors. Most of us can avoid the most glaring, at 
least, of those. I am thinking of the dull but correct fornr 
the stodgj% awkward, flat s<^ntencos which deprive the avera^< 
person's speech of grace, force, and life. Ix't us .see whether 
we cannot make a beginning in throwing out of our daily 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 83 

speech these lock-step, ball-and-chain sentences. We can 
make this beginning only through conscious attention and 
effort. 

The majority of the sentences we utter are of this form: 
It was storming this morning, and I was late to school. 

Here is a compound sentence made up of two simple 
sentences : 

It was storming this morning (and) / was late to school. 

Now these ideas may be combined in various ways : 

1. The storm made me late to school this morning. 

2. As it was storming this morning, I was late to school. 

3. I was late to school this morning because of the storm. 

4. I was late to school this morning. The storm delayed 

me, etc. 
A large proportion of this type of compound sentence 
should be eHminated from our speech. A little ingenuity 
will enable one to escape this particular rut. The tongue 
should be trained to other sentence forms. 

EXERCISE 

Change each of the following sentences into as many new 
forms as possible. The wording may be altered if desirable, 
but the original sense of the sentence should be preserved as 
closely as possible. 

1. I opened the door, and I saw a strange sight. 

2. The man walked up to a woman, and then he made a 

low bow. 

3. I have forgotten my pen, and I cannot copy this 

lesson. 

4. Abraham Lincoln was a noble man, and all Americans 

love his memory. 

5. The road was very rough, and so we were severely 

jolted. 

6. The boys were badly frightened, and they soon left 

the place. 



84 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

7. I delight in music, and I go to concerts often. 

8. Henry looked up from his book and demanded the 

newcomer's name. 

9. The party reached the lake at noon, and there they 

took the boat for the island. 
10. The lesson was extremely long, and so I did not have 
time to study it all. 

We often run on and on with our sentences, sticking 
clause to clause with and's, bid's, and so's. If we listen to the 
sentences uttered in our hearing, we shall find this practice 
a common one. To aAoid such formless lumps of speech, 
we should train ourselves to bite off our sentences with a 
snap. It is a mistake to l)e afraid of short sentences. We 
should use them frequently. Moreover, we should form a 
speaking acquaintance with other connectives besides and, 
but, and so. We should learn to use such useful words as 
moreover, accord itujJy, hcnee, conseqiiently. nevertheless. 

EXERCISES 

1. "\\ itii the aid of a dictionary' of synonyms make up a 

list of conjunctions which m;iy be used to liclp our 
ovenvorkcd and's and but's. 

2. In a fairly long j)aragraph of good modern prose mark 

all the conjunctions and study their u.sc. 

3. Improve the following. Change to two or more sen- 

tences, where it is impossible otherwise to give form 

to these shapeless lumps of speech. 

(a) As we were on our way home, we met Henry, 
and he proposed that we should go to a 
moving picture; and so we turned around 
and went l)ack to the Grand; but when we 
arrived there and tried to buy our tickets, we 
found that we did not have enough money, 
and .so to our confusic;!! we had to give back 
the ticket-s; and then after a laugh at the j<jkc 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 85 

on us, we started for home again and walked 
all the way. 
(6) I want to explam to you something about the 
operation of an adding machine, but I think 
the best way to do it is to show you one, for 
although the machine is simple enough when 
you have learned to operate it, and almost 
any one can use it, I find that it is difiicult to 
foUow a mere description of how it works; 
and so I have brought in this adding machine, 
and, if you will all come up close around me 
and watch me carefully, I will do some easy 
problems with it and explain the operation 
as I go along, but if you do not understand all 
the steps, you can ask me questions and I 
will repeat until I make it clear. 

If a person listens to his own sentences or those of others, 
he will probably discover that they are Kkely to fall into a 
fixed order of this kind: 

The man quickly opened the box. 

The order is this: subject, 'predicate^ predicate modifiers. 
Now a change of order is possible even in -this simple group 
of words. One might say: 

Quickly the man opened the box. 

Even such slight changes from a fixed order have a sur- 
prising way of increasing the vivacity of your style. A 
sHght practice in this direction opens the eyes to the re- 
markable flexibility of form of the Enghsh sentence. After 
a person's eyes have once been opened, he will never be 
satisfied again with dog-trot sentences. 

Here then are three specific things to practice in the 
hundreds of sentences a person utters daily. They are : — 

(1) To avoid the compound sentence of two simple parts; 

(2) To shun the formless lumps of words stuck together with 



86 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

and's, but's, and so's; (3) To escape a fixed order in one's 
sentences. 

Naturally there are many niceties and subtleties of sen- 
tence construction which are not comprehended in this simple 
list. Any rhetoric will give instruction for further practice. 
But it is certain that steady attention to these three points 
in the construction of spoken and written sentences will do 
much to lift one's style above the dead level of the average 
man's speech. 

IV. They Look Like Trifles, But — 

In addition to care in the directions already explained, 
any one who is truly in earnest in an effort to make his 
language a more serviceable tool, will work steadily to elimi- 
nate his habitual errors of speech. Most of us commit such 
errors. Since we are often unconscious of our habitual 
errors, we must first discover them. It is often possible 
to secure some friend to agree to call attention to our mis- 
takes. Then, too, the practice of consulting a trustworthy 
granmiar frequently will serve the same end. Used as a 
reference book, as a first aid in a difficulty, a grammar will 
be shorn of much of the terrors it has acquired as a textbook. 
Lastly, a list of common errors may put one on the track of 
his pet faults. Look over the following list. If you find 
you have Ix^on using a wrong form, correct yourself on the 
spot. Consult other .such lists. 

1. Don't say he or she or hi.s or /jcr.*?; in using a pronoun 

which may refer to either sex, say he or his; Sim- 
ilarly use the masculine with each, anybody. Each 
had his basket. 

2. None is singular. Not^e cares; not none care. 

3. Politics is singular. 

4. Treat sums of money as singular. Ten million 

dollars teas stolen. 

5. Don't use don't for doesn't; lie doesn't. It doesn't. 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 87 

6. Don't confuse affect for effect. A little care will form 

the correct habit for you. 

7. Proved, not proven. 

8. Don't use lady or gentlemen; say man or woman. 

In this day, the latter are preferred by best usage. 

9. Don't confuse alone with only. 

10. Omit the of in approve of. 

11. Don't say claim when you mean say. 

12. Don't confuse healthful and healthy. Healthful exer- 

cise, not healthy. 

13. Understand the difference between let and leave. 

Leave me do this is very crude. 

14. Love is cheapened by constant use. Do you mean 

like? Superficial girls love everything and every- 
body; genuine people distinguish between these 
words. 

15. Can and may are stumbling blocks to those who don't 

care to learn the difference and practise it. 

16. Don't say party for person. 

17. Learn the difference between if and whether. 

18. Don't confuse lend and borrow; this error is a poor 

advertisement of your intelligence. 

19. Leave out the he in "John, he went swimming." 

That is a sixth grade error. 

20. Ain't is the mark of the uneducated. 

21. Get the LY habit; she does it nicely, not, she does 

it nice. 

22. Conquer the double negative habit, I haven't no. 

23. Very often, not real often. Real is an adjective, not 

an adverb. 

24. Behind, not in hack of is right. 

25. Quite means entirely, not rather. 

26. Sure for surely is crude. 

27. There is no such expression as would of; it means 

nothing. If you mean would have, say it. 

28. Different from, not different than, is the correct idiom. 



88 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

29. Get lay and lie and sit and set untangled in your mind. 

Don't grow up with these errors on your Ust. 

30. Don't misplace only. Put it nearest the word or 

phrase it modifies. 

31. Don't make half a sentence pose as a whole one and 

don't make one sentence out of two. To be able 
to recognize a sentence is the first requisite of an 
intelligent writer. Learn to use the period 
correctly. 

Are these correct? 

(a) Imagination is useful in business. In advertising 

and salesmanship particularly. 
(6) Loafing on the street corner is a bad habit of 
course there are worse habits. 

32. Keep the same point of view throughout your sen- 

tence, if you would have smooth clear running 

sentences. Note the awkward shift of subject hero: 

"If you have a washerwoman, you nuist give her 

lunch and the machine saves you this trouble." 

How much smoother, this: 

"If you have a wasiier woman, you nuist give her a 

lunch; you would l)c saved this troul)lo by a machine." 

33. Don't have any mysterious jV.s and thcys to muddle 

your readers. Put your finger on the antecedent 
of every pronoun you use and don't permit any 
intervening references between noun nnti pronoun. 

34. The pre.«?ont ten.se in a mnning nr.rrative is awkward; 

use the past tense. 

Example: I was coming down the road. Along comes an 
old man steering his cane through the ruts. I take 
off my hat and start to speak to him. Etc., etc. 

Keep to the past ten.se throughout. 

35. Practice keeping time relations straight in these 

sentences. Make any changes necessary to logical 
time sequences. 



BETTER ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDENT 89 

(a) I wanted very much to go to New York for 

I was never there. 
(6) Before returning I recorded how I spent the 

day. 

(c) We were in Boston three years when it became 

necessary for me to go to work. 

(d) She told me I ought to go. 

She told me I ought to have gone. 

(e) This was the first time I was ever elected to 

office. 
(/) Hey, Bill, did you do your Algebra yet? 
(g) After we were standing in fine nearly an hour 

we succeeded in getting tickets. 
Qi) I could not imagine what happened to mother 

for she had promised to meet us. 
(i) The message was from her father who just 

arrived from London. 
(j) If he had known, he would have consented. 
(k) After I finished "OHver Twist," I began 

"Barnaby Rudge." 
(I) She thanked him kindly for the favors he did 

her. 
(m) Do you know when we come to the city? 
(n) I was not sure where they went, but I suggested 

that they may have gone shopping, 
(o) After he swam the river, he found himself 

exhausted? 

Explain each of your changes. 



CHAPTER V 

CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 

Introduction 

Business is coining to depend more and more upon its 
correspondence. The great forces of "Silent Salesman- 
ship" are urging men and women to develop their powers 
of writing to a high point of skill and practical value. Pub- 
licity departments, correspondence departments, adver- 
tising departments, secretarial staffs, have so multiplied and 
divided their work that the opjX)rt unities for those proficient 
in the use of the English language are greater than ever be- 
fore. St enogra Inhere who can do more than merely copy 
dictation, who are skillful in phra.^ing, tliscover that knowl- 
edge of English pays in increase in salaiy. In these daj^ 
we have an increasing numl)er of correspondence bureaus 
and advertising bureaus, which six^cialize in the writing of 
fonn letters, advertLscments, and such other business forms 
as require cxjx^rt judgment in phrasing. Letters, reports, 
bulletins, trade magazines, circulars, pamphlets, — all are 
modern means of increasing business, and all call for ability 
to write. Letters of winning appeal, of human interest, 
of personal flavor, of inspiration, of stimulation, of enthu- 
siasm, of convincing manner, of competent explanation, these 
are the demands of Inisiness letter writing on the modern busi- 
ne.«?s man. At no time in the history of business were there 
greater opportunities for the master of words and phrases. 

Business Idioms 

The invasion of correspondence by salesmanship and 
advertising has to a verj' notable degree affected the tone 
90 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 91 

and the style of the business letter. Business used to be 
conducted chiefly through personal interviews and in those 
days the business letter was merely a formal record or a 
business agreement. Such letters had no business-getting 
purpose. Letters were couched in formal, stereotyped 
phrases such as, yours at hand; contents noted; your esteemed 
favor; yours of the 5th instant received; thanking you in ad- 
vance; I beg to state. These were the conventional ear 
marks of the formal business letter. One still sees such 
phrases; we have by no means escaped such stilted diction. 
But letters made of such phrases are flat, machine-like, cold, 
and ineffective. Modern correspondence recognizes the un- 
limited business-building possibihties in letters, booklets, 
advertisements and reports, and is making rapid progress 
in bringing its written matter to higher standards of efii- 
ciency. Business letters are important in building up the 
good will of a house. An executive officer makes his reputa- 
tion largely through the letters he writes and through the 
memoranda and reports he presents. The same is true of 
the assistant and secretary. The salesman on the road 
creates a good or bad impression largely through his oral 
and written expression. Everywhere We find that business 
correspondence is the black and white record of the author's 
ability to think and to create favorable impressions. 

EXERCISES 

Note the letters that foUow. Compare and contrast as 
to style and tone. Which ones are of the newer type? 
Underline stilted phrases. Which ones approach a simple, 
natural, conversational style? Which ones help to establish 
a feeling of good-will in the mind of the recipient? Which 
ones arouse antagonism? Any? Are there any letters 
whose meaning is not clear? Indicate the passages which 
are not clearly phrased. Are any of the letters particu- 
larly enthusiastic? Are there any which are unusually con- 
vincing in tone? Which letters do you think should be 
rewritten? 



92 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Letter 1 

Dear Madam: 

As per your request of Sept. 29th for 
information as to the operation of the Ford 
factory, we are sending you under separate 
cover a booklet entitled "Factory Facts from 
Ford," which covers in detail the informa- 
tion you desire . 

Yours truly. 



2 

Gentlemen: 

With further reply to your letter of 
the 5th would state that we have received a 
letter from our Omaha office and they re- 
turned statement which they sent you and we 
must ask that balance of same be paid us at 
once. 

Very truly yours 



3 

Dear Friend: 

Your U. S. Liberty Ai Bond is now 
ready for delivery and you will please call 
for it at your earliest convenience. Bring 
your receipt with you. 

Yours very truly, 



4 

Dear Sir: 

We are in receipt of your letter of 
the 12th, in which you asked for a cata- 
logue of canned fruit, and in reply we beg 
to say that we are sending same to you under 
separate cover. Please glance through it 
and, if you find anything you desire, let us 
know and we will supply you. 

Yours truly, 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 93 

Letter 4 rewritten: 

Dear Sir: 

The catalogue of canned fruit, for 
which, you asked the other day, was mailed 
this morning. We want you to examine it 
carefully, and we are sure you will find 
just what you want. Please read the "trial 
order" offer on page 216, which will inter- 
est you. The fruit is of the "best quality, 
prepared in strictly sanitary factories, and 
is a big value for the money. We shall "be 
pleased to ship you this trial order or what- 
ever else you may need. It either case we 
pay freight to your door. 

Yours truly, 



Gentlemen: 

Answering yours of the 28th, regret to 
advise motors listed in General Electric 
Bulle.tin have all "been disposed of. 

Thanking you very kindly for writing 
us, we "beg to remain. 

Yours very truly, 



Dear Sir: 

I shall give you until the 1st of 
September to sell my house. Now go to it 
and clean it up! 

Yours very truly. 



94 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

7 

Dear Sir: 

As Mr. Omer said to David Copper- 
field-- 

"JFashions are like human beings. 
They come in, nobody knows when, why, or 
how. " 

But of course that was before our 
time. 

Nowadays the "how" or "why," as in 
Dickens' time, makes little practical dif- 
ference, but most certainly our friends and 
customers, like your good self, expect us 
to know WHEN. 

Right now, for instance, fall styles 
and the new "Forefather" fabrics are Just 
in. 

May we have the pleasure of showing 
them to you? 

Respectfully, 



8 

Dear Sir: 

We have your favor of the 9th, and in 
reply would say that at the present time we 
have no position that we could give you. 
We will, however, place your application on 
file in case a vacancy should occur* in the 
near future. 

Regretting that we cannot now offer 
you anything more encouraging, we remain, 
Very truly yours, 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 95 



Dear Mr. Elwell: 

Thank you very much for your prompt 
reply to our letter. We are, or course, 
unable to explain how the ridiculous mistake 
was made in filling your order for a tuxedo, 
since it occurred nearly two years ago. 

Quite evidently it was the blunder of 
a very careless shipping clerk. We assure 
you, however, that your experience was quite 
unusual and exceptional. 

Undoubtedly we give good values and 
good service, as evidenced by the growth of 
our business. People will not trade where 
they get poor value, and we do not expect 
them to do so. 

We have no quarrel with other business 
houses, and we do not urge you to trade with 
us if you can do better elsewhere. However, 
we feel that we can serve you just a little 
better than any one else. 

We are very glad that you will give us 
another trial and feel sure that you will 
not be disappointed. 

Yours truly, 



10 

Gentlemen: 

You are interested in the comfort and 
welfare of the people in your office, I 
know. You would supply them with individual 
drinking cups without a moment's hesitation, 
if you thought these would safeguard their 
health. Will you please read my little 
booklet thoughtfully and convince yourself, 
and then may I tell the rest of my story? 
Yours very truly, 



96 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

EXERCISES 

1. Rewrite letters 1, 2, 5, in simple natural style. 

2. ]\Iay a short letter be written with a personal touch? 

Pick out the shortest letter in this series that still 
expresses a human tone. 

3. Analyze specifically the two writings of letter 4. Which 

copy has business-getting p)ossibihties? Why? 

4. What Ls the effect upon you of the omission of sub- 

jects, articles, etc., as in letters 2, 5? If you put in 
the httle words, how is the tone changed? 

5. What kind of man wrote letter 6? 

6. What is the force of the words "I know" in letter 10? 

Originality in Letter Writing 

The advertising and sales letter is more and more becom- 
ing a part of every business venture. At no time has there 
been greater divei-sity in the style of busine!«s writing than 
to-<lay. All the devices known to human mind are being 
used to capture and retain attention. 

Criticize each of the following letters on its own merit. 
Consider the purpose of the letter and then determine in 
your own mind the following points: 

1. Appropriateness of style; taste shown. 

2. Effectiveness of letter; business-getting powers. 

3. Individuality of tone. 

4. Personal appeiil. 

5. Consistency of details. 

6. The difference between originality and eccentricity. 

7. Devices for securing attention. 

8. Success in holding attention. 

9. The form of the letter; sparing, etc. 

10. The personality of the writ<^r. 

11. The English used. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 97 



THE DETROIT GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. 



MARCH 
19 19 
It Makes no Difference 
What Your Business 
Is Or Who 
You Are ! 

If this letter had legs, it would jump up on 
your desk and say, "I'm one of the 
best little things that ever came into 
your place of business!" Then it 
would turn a few somersaults, land in 
the middle of your desk with a com- 
mand, "Now do as I tell you!" 

And when you did, you'd feel much better and 
perhaps a little more optimistic than 
you do. Tell you why-- 

This letter opens- the trail to one of the 
most far-reaching business-building 
services ever offered--a service which 
--well, in many cases it has simply 
been a wonder, that's all. Just 
think! Your chances of attracting the 
attention of people who pass your 
store at night, absolutely depends on 
how your store is illuminated and how 
attractive your window lighting is. 

Every minute people pass your store at night 
and if every merchant only realized 
what a wonderful business-building, 
trade-drawing power, scientific il- 
lumination really is, window display 
lighting, would be over-sold and retail 
trade would jump thousands of dollars 
per month. 



98 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Think over the proposition of attracting the 
night crowds. It's worth considering. 
There is money in it--for you. And 
without obligating you in the least, 
we would like to put the real facts 
and figures in your hand. Use the 
enclosed card to tell us when to come. 

But remember this: no matter how large or 
how small your business is, if you 
want to increase your business during 
the day, business men who have really 
made a success of retail merchandis- 
ing, tell us that during the night, 

You must use light, 

THK:ZL Sales Manager. 

By the way! Call me up, Main 6100 or 
Tri State 44210. Maybe that's 
quicker. Thanks! 



II 

THE KANSAS CITY ELECTRIC COMPANY 

MARCH 
19 19 
Dear Friend 

Good Morning! 

The most perfect home I ever saw was in a 

little house into the sweet incense of 
whose fires went no costly things. A 
thousand 'dollars served for a year's 
living of father, mother and three 
children. But the mother was a crea- 
tor of a home; her relation with her 
children was the most beautiful I havi 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 99 

ever seen; even a dull and common- 
place man was lifted up and enabled to 
do good work by the atmosphere which 
this woman created; every inmate of 
her house involuntarily looked into 
her face for the keynote of the day, 
and it always rang clear. She has 
always been^ and will always be, my 
ideal of a wife, mother, homemaker. 

It is the ideal wife, the homemaker, and the 
wonderful woman--the mother--that we 
are trying to help in the economies of 
homebuilding, homemaking and home- 
keeping, when we suggest the use of 
Electricity and the various Electrical 
Devices. This company is at all tim.es 
anxious to be of service to the women 
of Minneapolis, and whether they come 
here to trade or whether we call upon 
them, we try at all times to bear in 
mind the golden rule, and treat them 
as we ourselves would like to be 
treated. 

I know that you, like lots of folks, down in 
your heart, have resolved at one time 
or another to have your home wired. 
But the matter slipped your mind--your 
intention got mixed up with a lot of 
other things and was forgotten. Won't 
you take this letter, then, as a 
gentle reminder to make good that 
resolution NOW? Just call me on the 
phone and give me the opportunity of 
telling you what a wonderful thing 
Electricity really is and how it will 
help you in your daily duties. I'll 
look for a call from YOU. 

Sincerely yours, 
THK:ZL Sales Manager. 



100 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

III 

PROCESS CIRCULAR-LETTER COMPAITY 

Benningham, Alabama 

"YOU MAY FIRE WHEN YOU'RE READY" 

THERE SHOULD BE NO ARMISTICE IN BUSINESS. 

Mr. Will U Listen, 
To The Truth. 

Yes Sir: 

You don't need the instinct of an 
Indian with ear to the ground to recognize 
that SOMETHING is on the way! What do you 
think it is? 

It is the tramp, tramp, tramp, of busy 
feet in perfect cadence with the rumble of 
the wheels of reviving commerce. Are you 
going to be just an onlooker--or, are you 
going to "fall in," too? 

Prudent people prepare promptly — 
THEY ADVERTISE. 

A direct personal message is of the 
BIRD-IN-THE-HAND quality. If that Bird is a 
letter, circular or other printed matter, 
hatched by the Process Co., it is surely the 
BEST of early worm getters. The service and 
workmanship may be what you need. THE 
CHARGES ARE LOW PRICED. Please allow us to 
PROVE our claims. 

PROCESS COMPANY. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 101 

IV 

PENTON LABEL COMPAM" 

Manufacturers of 
Gummed Labels 

Philadelphia, Pa., 12-12-18. 

"I liked the young fellow--I might 
have presented him with the horse, hut I 
wanted him to think he was "buying it. "-- 
Elbert Hummard. 

"Lookee Bosco" said I, "You can have 
this horse for five dollars. Uow ride him 
home. I'm in a hurry!" 

The young fellow smiled a sickly, 
silly smile, stood on one foot then on 
t'other and asked this question: "Why, 
what's the matter with him?" 

"Nothing" said I, "Do you waht him?" 

My man scratched his head, coughed and 
replied, "I'll have to think about it"; — 

The next day I sold the horse to a 
stranger for $62.50. 

Last month we circularized over a half 
million firms offering a trial order of our 
standardized #7A addressing label similar to 
enclosed samples, printed to order on the 
best stock obtainable for the purpose, 
breaking strength 24 pounds to the square 
inch, double gummed with the highest grade 
of fish glue; and offered to return money to 
anyone not more than satisfied in every 
respect. The prices were as follows: 

l,000--$2.00: 3,000--|5.00: 6,000— 
17.90: 12,006--|12.50 



102 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

The returns were fairly slow until 
54,000 of our regular customers got the 
offer; then the deluge! You see they knew 
horses, we mean gummed labels, and they 
didn't have to mosie over to 'Parson's groc- 
ery to ask Uncle Bert Bushnell's advice. 

It is fair to our regular customers to 
include them in this offer, and we are glad 
they had an opportunity to share in a good 
thing; but--we want 250,000 firms to know 
what really good gummed labels are like. 

So, we are going to repeat the offer, 
but you must send your checi: with the order 
by return mail. 

Don't mislay this letter. The check, 
order blank, and letter must be enclosed to 
show you are entitled to the price. Right 
now is a good time to mail it. 

Yours very truly, 

PENTON LABEL COMPANY. 



deer Frend/ 

my boss is mad an Irae afrade ile git 
fired thats why ime ritin i Swiped this 
paper outen waste baskit to rite you a leter 
on/ 

my boss rote you a leter & when hes 
dun ritin one he gives it to me and i put ir; 
a kard for you to send.bak then i lik the 
leter shut an stik a stamp onto it an male 
it but my bos is mad you dednt send bak no 
kard an my boss is sore at me an sez i 
dident put no kard in your leter or elts i 
dident male your leter/ an ime afrade heel 
fire me/ thats why ime riting$^ 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 103 

ray boss sez if "bisness men new how 
good munsingware is he'd have so meny orders' 
he cudent make enuff munsingware to fill era 
with "they shure are peeohes for evrybudy 
likes them 

& i want you to plese/ rite 
to my boss & tell him you got the kard all- 
rite an that ime not to "blame 

plese do it quik for ime in 
truhble i need my job 
thats why Ime ritin so plese answe by male 
an sine the hand or rite a leter so i wont 
git fired 

from your| Trule 

Billy 

the office boy. 

Note. — The letters that follow were written by students in 
Business Composition. 

Blank High School. 

Mr. Charles Dodge, 
Department of Rhetoric, 
University of Minnesota. 

Dear Sir: 

Your Interest in all amateur performances 

leads me to feel that you will be very 
much interested in the play "Robin 
Hood and the Three Kings" to be given 
by the June graduating class of this 
school on May 22 and 23. 

The cast of one hundred fifty persons is 

being coached by Miss Helen King and 
Mr. Pred Crane. Since you know some- 
thing of their work, you know that the 
production will be worth while. 



104 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Would you care to mention the play to your 

dramatic pupils as one worthy of being 
seen? 

The tickets are twenty-five and fifty cents 
and will be on sale Monday the thir- 
teenth at this school and the Cable 
Piano Company. 

If you would like any more information, we 
shall be glad to give it to you. 

Yours truly, 
Roly&xt IVyamt 
Publicity Manager. 



VI 

Blank High School. 
May 10, 1918. 
Mr. C. J. Emery, 

Ch. Northern Division of the Red Cross, 
Essex Bldg. 10th & Nicollet. 

Dear Sir: 

Since the entire proceeds from the produc- 
tion of "Robin Hood & the Three Kings," 
given by the graduation class of Blank High 
School, will be turned over to the Red 
Cross, we are asking you to co-operate with 
us in advertising it. 

"Robin Hood & the Three Kings" by Alfred 
Noyes will be presented on May 22 and 23 
by a cast of 150 students carefully se- 
lected and trained by Miss Helen King and 
Mr. Fred Crane. The sale of tickets opens 
Monday, May 13| at 8 o'clock. All seats are 
reserved and tickets at 25^ and 50(^ may be 
obtained at Blank High School or at the 
Cable Piano Company at 8th & Nicollet. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 105 

UndouTDtedly you will have opportunities to 
advertise this play and help make it even 
more successful than predictions indicate. 
Any further information that you desire for 
advertising purposes, we will gladly supply. 

We are sure that you are as interested in 
the outcome of this play as we are, and 
hoping that, with your assistance, we may "be 
ahle to present to the Red Cross a sum that 
will actually help our cause in the struggle 
for Democracy, we are 

Yours very truly, 



VII 

BUSIITESS SERVICE CLASS 

Blank High School 

March 5, 1919. 
Experience Wanted 
In Business Writing: 

The Cooking Department assists in the 
lunch room; the Art Department makes post- 
ers; the Typewriting Department does the 
copying work for the teachers; the Journal- 
ism class writes articles for "The Daily." 
Let us show you what the BUSINESS SERVICE 
CLASS will do for you. 

YOU SAY IT; WE WRITE IT. 

If you want a "business or advertising 
letter, give us the facts and we will do the 
work and emphasize the points which will 
make it effective. You can help us "by let- 
ting us help you. 



106 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

SERVICE EOR NOTHING 

We successfully advertised "Robin 
Hood," wrote business letters for the Alumni 
Get-together, conducted a search for busi- 
ness forms for the Typewriting Department, 
composed many other miscellaneous business 
letters. Now let the BUSINESS SERVICE CLASS 
help you for nothing. 

Call on us, or send us the raw 
material; we return the finished product. 

Yours for satisfactory service, 

THE BUSINESS SERVICE CLASS. 

By 



VIII 



Blank High School, 
March 14, 1919. 

Mr. A. W. Warner, 

General Passenger Agent, 

Twin City Rapid Transit Co., 

City. 

Dear Sir: 

In making out your schedules, you try 
to accommodate the public. In the morning 
and evening, extra cars are put on for the 
working people; after a ball game many extra 
cars are ready to take the crowd home; and 
the lines going to the state fair grounds 
run extra cars during fair week. 

Did it ever occur to you that a high 
school of 2,000 students represents a con- 
siderable part of the public? From 7:45 to 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 107 

8:20 there are about four hundred students 
and teachers of Blank High who ride on the 
Cedar Line from Lake St. to 24th St. They 
generally have to wait thirteen minutes 
before a car appears. By this time the 
crowd is too large for one car, but some- 
times by much crowding, jamming, and p'iling, 
the whole crowd manages to squeeze into the 
car. In most cases, some must be left be- 
hind to wait for the next car. After ten 
minutes more of "watchful waiting," someone 
spies a car in the distance. As it nears , 
the. crowd steps into the street, only to 
discover a shorts-line car. It seems as if 
between 7:45 and 8:30 there must be at least 
two short-line cars. Pifteen minutes later 
the people are finally squeezed into a car. 
It may bump and jerk all it wants to, but 
nobody falls--there isn't room. By the time 
this last car-load reaches school it is 8:40 
--ten minutes late. 

To improve conditions, can't you 
arrange to have a few extra cars on the 
Cedar Line from 7:45 to 8:20 in the 



morning 



Respectfully, 

(A Student) 

IX 

March 5, 1919. 
You have dreamed 
Of having a 
Secretary 

Haven' t you? 

We have dreamed of being secretaries for 

people's private business or for some 
large firm, but we must have the ex- 



108 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

perience before this can iDecome a 
reality. Will you give us the 
experience? 

When you want an attractive, snappy letter 
written, give us the raw material and 
let us shape and fit the pieces 
together. The list below is just to 
show you that we really are doing a 
few things. 

1. We wrote letters to the alumni for 

a get-together. 

2. We advertised successfully "Robin 

Hood and the Three Kings." 

3. We did canvassing for the Woman's 

Suffrage Headquarters. 

4. We conducted a search for business 

forms for the typewriting 
department. 

Besides this we have written numerous 
miscellaneous letters that have gone 
out to actual people. 

When the cooking classes Imow that what they 
make is going to be sold for actual 
money, they are sure to put all their 
efforts into their work. We aren't 
selling our work now. We are just 
asking for real material so that we 
may have enough experience to be able 
to demand a reasonable salary when we 
seek j obs. 

Make your dream come true. 
Let us be your secretary. 

The Business Service Class. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 109 

EXERCISES 

Find actual examples of: 

1. A letter that collected money. 

2. The shortest letter that said the most. 

3. A form letter that sold goods. 

4. A letter with the personal touch. 

5. A letter that was destined to go immediately to the 

wastebasket. 

The Correspondence of a High School Student 

Before writing any of the following letters determine the 
appropriate form, tone, length. Study carefully the Form 
of the business letter in Appendix A. Consider, also, before 
writing any of the letters, the following: 

Don't! 

1. Don't typewrite a signature. 

2. Don't omit a first name or an initial in the heading. 

3. Don't misspell the name of the person you're writing 

to. 

4. Don't abbreviate, unless you are sure your abbrevia- 

tion is correct. 

5. Don't end your letter with a participial construction. 

Use a sentence. Example: Don't write, "Hoping 
to hear from you soon," but rather, "/ hope to 
hear, etc." 

6. Don't capitalize more than the first word of the clos- 

ing: "Yours truly" is correct, not Yours Truly. 

7. Don't "beg to acknowledge;" don't beg at all. 

8. Don't confuse "kindly" with "please," just because 

it is the fashion. 

9. Don't use "same." "Dear Madam," wrote a veter- 

inary surgeon, "Your dog's ears are now well and 
the same can be called for at any time." 
10. Don't say "herewith"; it is a legal phrase. 



no PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

11. Don't omit the small words such as /, a, the, etc. "In 

reply would state goods was dehvered as per order 
of June 9/' is curt and inelegant. 

12. Don't "state"; just "say"; "state" is overworked. 

13. Don't waste time saying "Your letter is at hand." 

The fact that you are replying is evidence of the 
fact. Refer to the receipt of the letter more skill- 
fully as, "I like the proposal in your letter of 
November 26." 

14. Don't stress "I" in a letter; emphasize "you." 

Do! 

1. Alake Qxory sentence count; telescope those long 

rambling sentences, two sentences into one, one 
sentence into a phrase, a phrase into a word. 

2. "Get into step" with the person j'ou arc writing to; 

see his point of view; then make a personal appeal. 

3. Be tactful rather than antagonistic. 

4. Create a feeling of goodwill. 

5. Keep out of a rut. 

Letters to Write for Practice 

Make the JllcIs Jil your own experience as nearly as possible. 

1. A letter to your principal asking permission to enter 

school a month late. Assume tliat you have sum- 
mer employment which extends over the first 
month of the term. 

2. A letter to a teacher asking for a letter of recommenda- 

tion. 

3. A letter to a street railway company making some 

legitimate complaint concerning street car service 
for students, perhaps on such special occasions 
as a football game. 

4. A letter concerning some agreement which circum- 

stances prevent your living up to. It may be to 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 111 

a clothing store asking for longer time in which to 
pay for a garment; or it may be to a school 
society explaining your difficulties in meeting your 
subscription on time. 

5. A letter to any organization for information regard- 

ing some topic on which you are to write a report. 

6. A letter to a school paper or a city paper in the 

nature of an open communication. 

7. A form letter to students who have subscribed for an 

Annual but have not claimed it or paid for it. 
Urge prompt settlement. 

8. A report of proceedings in any of your classes or 

special school performances. Assume you are a 
newspaper reporter or a secretary. 

9. An apology to class or to teacher for some slight 

offense. 

10. An open letter to the school board explaining a stu- 

dent's view of some recent action. It may be 
that some change in dates of Christmas vacation 
upsets the plans of those students who work dur- 
ing hoKdays. 

11. An open letter for your bulletin board protesting some 

recent act of a group of students. Perhaps at some 
football celebration a few students disgraced the 
school. 

12. A letter introducing a friend of yours to an old school- 

mate who attends the same school that the former 
expects to attend. 

13. A letter of resignation from some office of some school 

organization. 

14. A letter ordering class pins for your class. 

15. A letter acknowledging the receipt of the pins and 

expressing satisfaction. 

16. A letter from a Hterary society challenging its rival 

to a public debate; or from one class challenging 
another to a spelling match. 



112 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

17. A letter of thanks to a teacher whose recommendation 

secured for you a satisfactory position. 

18. A letter from the secretary of some school society 

adjusting some difficulty with a rival society. It 
may be regarding a member whom both claim to 
have initiated against the rules of the school. 

19. A letter inviting the alumni of your school hterary 

society to a special meeting. 

20. Write any other type of business letter you have been 

called upon as a high school student to write. 

Dictate to a classmate any of the above letters your 
teacher may assign. Before doing so, jot down the items 
according to some orderly plan. Then phrase the letter 
extemporaneously. 

Criticize the appropriateness and effect of the following 
letters written by students. Indicate all crrore that you find. 

A. 

Dear Sir: 

I am a student at Wayne High School. 
I have occasion to ride to and from school 
every day. The car which I take stops on 
the corner, while our school entrance is 
situated in the middle of the block. On 
cold winter mornings I find it a great 
hardship to walk the half block to school. 
Central High school has the car stop in 
front of their entrance, and why can't wg? 

Yours truly, 
B. 
Dear Sir: 

Have you ever had the occasion to wait 
on a bitter cold day some five or ten 
minutes for a car? If so, and I presume you 
have, I am sure you will agree with me that 
it isn't exactly pleasant. 

Now the Wayne High School accommodates 
about sixteen hundred students the majority 
of whom take the street car to and from 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 113 

school. I, as one of these, appeal to you 
to make arrangements for the stopping of 
street cars in front of the door of the 
Wayne High School. This will save the 
breathless running of a block in order to 
prevent tardiness and also the head-over 
heels rush for a car at the close of school, 
for during cold weather the pupils wait 
inside of the building for their car. 

Central High School seems to be 
accommiodated in such a way and I am sure 
that Wayne High ought to be equally provided 
for. 

I hope you will take this matter into 
consideration. 

Yours truly, 
C. 
Dear Sir: 

In voicing the feelings of the Lincoln 
Avenue Car passengers to Wayne High School, 
I do not wish you to take any offense in 
thinking my letter as one of complaint. The 
Lincoln Avenue Car Service which accommodates 
the Wayne High students chiefly during the 
half-hour intervening from 8:00 to 8:30 A.M., 
has been one of admirable promptitude, 
and of accommodating facilities. We have 
had nothing to complain of. 

We have heard that the ■ cars the 
City High students use afford its pas- 
sengers the privilege of unboarding at the 
main entrance of the school, which is in the 
middle of the block. Would you carefully 
consider giving this very much desired and 
advantageous opportunity to the Wayne High 
passengers of your cars at this time of 
day? The stop would be between twenty- 
fourth and twenty-fifth streets, on Lincoln 
Avenue between 8:00 and 8:30 A. M. 

It saves time for us, and so far as we 
can discover, creates no disadvantage to the 
car service. 

Yours truly, 



114 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

The Letter of Application 

While other kinds of letters have been assuming increased 
responsibihty and power in business, the letter of appUca- 
tion has shown a marked decline in importance. Sup- 
planted at first by the many forms of standard appHcation 
blanks that became necessary as hundreds of appHcants 
a day had to be considered, it is now rapidly gi\'ing way 
to the personal interview. For neither the letter of appH- 
cation nor the carefully categorized apphcation blank ac- 
complishes for the employer all that is desired. In an 
investigation conducted by R. W. Kelley for the "Industrial 
Management," it was maintained that not more than half 
of the firms interviewed ever looked up the references given 
in letters of apphcation, and those who did found the results 
of their efforts not very valuable. Furthermore, it was 
asserted that the importance of the record of academic 
standing, which the 3'outhful graduate includes in his ap- 
plication with so much confidence, was over-estimated by 
applicants. The greatest factor in determining the choice 
of a cantlidate proved to be neither the names given as ref- 
erences nor the record of scholarship. 

A\"ith these two elements of the letter of application 
iiiiiiiniizcd in importance, what is there left in the average 
letter? Unless a ixrson has the skill to make his letter a 
"personal inton-icw," his efforts are not worth while. The 

set, formal letter, "I graduated from in 1919, I refer 

you to the following persons for testimony of my reliability, 
etc.," proves to be either a blind reliance on chance or else 
a waste of paper and ink. The letter of application may 
still serve al)Iy as an introduction to an interview and in the 
exceptional case as an effective means of securing a posi- 
tion; but it is no longer a satisfactory method to Ix? implicitly 
relied ujxjn. 

It is the personal factor in the interview that is the modem 
determinant. Psychologists who are trained to estimate in a 
few minutes the mental and physical traits of those inter- 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 115 

viewed are employed by large companies to accomplish 
quickly what the old tedious reading of hundreds of letters 
took hours to do. And even the small employer of to-day 
prides himself on being something of an astute amateur in 
business psychology and usually desires to see in person the 
applicant he is to hire. 

EXERCISE 

Rewrite the following letter of application. Change the 
emphasis of the letter, entirely subordinating your facts 
about your education and references to an idea of larger 
qualification than is given in the letter. You are to supply 
the idea. What idea can you put into the letter that will 
make it seem more purposeful? Can you show your person- 
aHty in the letter? Does the writer of the letter reveal 
anything of himself in the letter? Can you write a more 
vigorous opening sentence and a more compelHng closing 
sentence? 

See Appendix A, on "Form of Business Letter." 

L. C. Crane, & Co . , 
425 West Fifth Street, 
City. 

Gentlemen: 

I am writing to you in reply to an 
advertisement I saw in Sunday's Tribune for 
a competent stenographer. 

I am seventeen years old and have just 
graduated from the commercial course at 
North High School with an average of 89.7, 
the fourteenth highest in my class. I can 
typewrite 60 words a minute and my dictation 
speed is 150 words a minute. 

I know something about general office 
work as I have worked summers with the Blank 
Company of this city. 



116 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

I refer you to my summer employer, Mr. 
J. T. Brown of the company just mentioned, 
and to two of my teachers at North High 
School, Miss Florence Knapp, and Mr. John 
V/arren. 

Hoping my application will receive 
favorable consideration, I am, 

Yours respectfully, 

Criticize the following opening and closing sentences in 
letters of application: 

Opening Sentences 

1. Could I be of any assistance to you in the future? 

I have alwa3's wished that some day I could work 
in your office. 

2. Do 3'ou need a stenographer or a bookkeeper in your 

office? 

3. My aim is to become a stenographer or a bookkeeper 

in an office like 3'oui's. 

4. Do 3'ou realize tluit you have an influence on my 

future? Mayiw not, but there is a position in 3'our 
office that means nuich to me. 

5. I am interested in your type of work, and thercfort^ 

I am writing to intjuire whether there is a vacancy' 
in 3'our office force. 
G. Having learned that you desire the work of a young 
girl in j'our office, I take this opportunity to tender 
my services. 

7. It has occurred to me that in an office as large as j-ours 

there might i>os.siblj' be a demand for stenogra- 
phers at all times. 

8. La.st sinnmer while employed by The Progressive Shoe 

Machinery Co., I shared the straps with a number 
of young women who were working for j'ou. They 
all seemed so energetic and hai)py that I ho|K'(l 
that I might Ix-come one of them at some later day. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 117 

9. The time comes in most of our lives to write and ask 
for jobs. This is the purpose of this letter of 
application. 
10. Do you feel that you can use a young stenographer 
who is very ambitious and energetic? If so, I 
think that I am just the person you are looking for. 

Closing Sentences 

1. Hoping that I may possibly be selected for an inter- 

view, I remain, — 

2. If you can remember me when the time comes, I will 

be there with everything needed for the position — 
willingness, energy, and a good personahty to back 
me up. 
" 3. Please write me if this meets your approval. 

4. If this interview will be granted, you can call Dial 

23782 and inform me. 

5. I would appreciate it very much if I could have an 

interview with you. 

6. I hope that you will favor me with a reply in the near 

future. 

7. I hope that you will grant me the privilege of an inter- 

view. 

Letters of Application to Write 

1. Apply for the position referred to in the following 

' advertisement : 



Wanted! 

A stenographer. One with common sense rather 
than experience. Tell all about yourself in first 
letter. 
Address, Mr. D. U. Harris, Pres., 

Midland National Bank, 
. City. 



118 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. Apply for holiday work. 

3. Cut out of the daily paper an advertisement that 

interests you. Answer it. 

4. Answer the following advertisement : 



Can you fill this position? Large automobile 
concern wants stenographer who is above the ordi- 
naiy in intelligence and abilitj'' and who is quick 
and accurate. Only portion of day on stenographic 
work; remamder of the day spent in other interest- 
ing work. Hours good, working conditions pleas- 
ant. Give age, nationality, experience, if any, 
salaiy expected. Address, 4414 Journal. 



5. Apply for a part time position, explaining that you 
wish to work your way through school. 

Looking for a Position — The Personal Interview 

"Looking for a job? Don't. Try ofl'ering one." This 
advice was given in The Ladies' Home Journal, September, 
1917, to the many luckless ones who go job-hunting without 
a definite plan. Business waits for these who can prove, 
either bj- letter or interview, that their talents play into the 
purpose of the employer. 

"Is there any chance of getting a jol)?" timidly asks the 
average applicant. 

"What kindof a job?" 

"Anything at all." And another futile interview ends 
for the discouraged applicant as she iittei-s these tell-tale 
words. For "Anything at all" usually means "not much 
in particular." 

The story is told in the same article of a college girl who 
went to a publishing house in New York. When asked what 
kind of a job she wanted-, she said, "Anything at all, par- 
ticularly if it is literarj'. I know some French and I have 
had some literar}' training." Her vague reply brought the 
interview to an abrupt close. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 119 

After many more discouraging applications she decided 
that she would like to work for one publishing house in 
particular. She spent days studying its catalogues. She 
learned what the firm aimed to do and how best her 
talents supported that aim. She saw just where her little 
knowledge of French would qualify her to work as stenog- 
rapher in this department and how her literary training 
might help her to work up to that department. "They 
didn't give her a job; she took it." 

This definiteness should be the first aim of the interview. 
The appHcant must at all times assume the offensive with a 
thorough and confident knowledge of the services he has to 
sell if he would get the position he wants, and not merely 
fall into the first position that yawns for any person that 
happens along. It is futile to rely solely upon one's abihty 
to answer intelligently such questions as ''How old are you? 
What school are you a graduate of?" And yet how many 
students do more than answer yes or no; name this school 
or that firm, this reference or that telephone number. There 
is nothing positive in such simple answering. If any con- 
sideration is given such blank interviews at all, it is because 
there is a shortage of applicants and the position is either 
an inferior one or will be a temporary one. An employer 
usually starts asking questions not because he wishes to carry 
the burden of catechist, but because he hopes thus to start 
the applicant to talking about himself. The employer may 
talk about business or rehgion or pohtics in order to draw 
the applicant out. There are certain well-known facts that 
he wishes to estabhsh and while his methods of ascertaining 
them may vary, his aims are usually the same. Sooner or 
later, directly or indirectly, you must disclose to him: 

1. Your willingness and eagerness to work. 

2. Your knowledge or capacity to learn. 

3. Your initiative and activity. 

4. Your ambition to improve and rise. 

5. Your disposition under disagreeable conditions. 



120 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

6. Your stability. 

7. Your past experience and your ability to profit by it. 

8. Your likes and dislikes and their significance. 

9. Your personal power and magnetism. 

He is interested in the facts of your Life only as they give 
him knowledge of these quahties or variations of them. To 
be content, then, with a bare rehearsal of your education 
and your experience is to miss the opportunities that your 
interview affords. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read Blackford and Newcomb's "The Job, the Man, 

the Boss." Note the principles of character analy- 
sis and try to practise them in a small way upon 
your friends. 

2. Apply in person, in a staged interview which your 

teacher will arrange, for a position that you would 
like to fill and that 3'our actual quafifications would 
justify you in applj'^ing for. Let your aim be to 
impress the teacher or any one else whom the teacher 
may get to assist her, with your pci-sonal attrac- 
tions as well as your record in school so that she 
may the better assist you, by a more favorable 
recommendation, in getting an actual position after 
graduation. 

3. In an arranged inteniew make an easy, natural, 

pleasing entrance, not too deferential, nor yet too 
bold. Let the interview go no farther than the 
introduction of yourself and the statement of your 
mission. Make your whole manner speak; your 
carriage, gestures, tone, expression. 

4. Accept a refusal of a position so gracefully that the 

employer is moved to reconsider in your favor. 

5. Overcome by winning arginnent some prejudice of 

the employer, your lack of experience, for example. 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 121 

6. In a way that you decide will be in your favor, meet 

an employer's hobbies : "I insist upon my employees 
being on the minute"; "I insist upon complete 
accuracy"; "Are you willing to work overtime?" 
"Are you willing to begin at the bottom?" Main- 
tain your own self-respect at the same time that 
you seek to impress the employer. Decide first 
in your mind what attitude a self-respecting person 
maintains. 

7. Refuse in a dignified manner an offer which you 

think you are justified in refusing from the point 
of view that you are entitled to a better offer. 

8. Answer an advertisement over the telephone. Re- 

member that in this case the voice, the expression, 
and the thought conveyed have to do double work 
for you. Cut out an actual advertisement from 
the paper to reply to. 

9. A man once started his letter of application, "I was 

fired from my last job." Perhaps he figured that 
his reader would be so startled by this confession 
that he would read the rest of the letter, and 
perhaps the man also counted upon making an im- 
pression through his recklessness. At any rate 
he had a reason. Without being freakish, aim to 
secure attention in a letter or an interview in some 
such novel manner. Have a reason behind your 
opening based upon some analysis of human nature 
and the situation you are attempting to handle. 

Note. — The interviews might he in the nature of an ama- 
teur clinic. The class should make comments and suggestions and 
the interviews should he repeated until those taking part have 
acquired enough skill to make the interviews seem worth while. 
The first attempts will often tend toward silliness, giggling, and 
self-consciousness; hut once the first embarrassment has worn 
off, students will carry through the scenes with excellent spirit. 



122 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Merely the aims to he pursued in the interviews have been 
Students and teacher may supply the situations. 



The Personal Letter 

The Personal Touch 

"Consideration of the daily mail, frequently burdened as 
it is with business circulars, 'follow-up' letters and smart 
devices that in time tend to defeat themselves, has sug- 
gested a limitation of the volume of 'business correspon- 
dence.' Comfortable offices, numerous stenographers, du- 
plicating machines and other devices tempt the soHcitor of 
business by letter and circular to prohxity and useless ex- 
penditure. The machinery is so easy to work that the temp- 
tation is strong to overwork it. The returns are not in 
proportion to the expenditure. 

"One sometimes regrets that the personal letter writing of 
other days has gone out of vogue antl has been succeeded by 
a hard, unattractive and machine-made writing. To these 
old personal letters we owe much delightful literature and 
bits of knowledge that have proved to be of historical im- 
portance, while many a shaft of Ught has been thrown on 
what would otherwise be obscure. 

"The collected lettei-s of Dr. Johnson, of Horace Walpole, 
of Edward Fitzgerald, and of Emerson and Carlyle make 
delightful Ijooks to turn to in hours of leisure and many a 
reader finds distraction for a moment of sorrow or disappoint- 
ment in finding that other and more noteworthy persons 
have been in the same predicament. 

"Conser\'ation in the matter of poi-sonal letter writing 
will be urged by no one. 

The more frequent u.se of a vehicle so ea.sy and pleasant 
as the friendly jx^n seems, in fact; most desirable. There is 
a stor}' of a newspaixM- which had a valued correspondent 
who, after writing his 'article,' sat down and told the editor 
in a personal letter, cri.sp, sparkling and to the point, what 



CORRESPONDENCE IN BUSINESS 123 

he had been writing about. The editor threw away the 
article and printed the letter. The writer of the letter had 
for the moment forgotten to be stilted and professional; 
hence he produced something really valuable and worth 
reading." — The Minneapolis Tribune, January 1, 1918. 

Theme Topics on Letter Writing 
(To be assigned for investigation) 

1. The lost art of letter writing. 

2. Letter writing of the 18th century. 

3. Famous letters. 

4. The new impetus given letter writing by the war. 

5. Letters of: 

Robert Louis Stevenson. 
Charles Lamb. 

Letters to write 

1. A letter to the class after vacation. 

2. A letter to an acquaintance you made on a railroad 

train. 

3. A letter introducing one friend to another friend. 

4. A letter home. 



CHAPTER VI 
ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 

A variety of new talents has been brought into business 
through the rapid extension of advertising into new phases 
and activities. Bill boards, once dubbed a menace by such 
art critics as G. Lowes Dickenson, are now exhibiting the 
pictures of IVIaxfield Parrish, George Montgomery Flagg, 
and other recognized artists. Art has invaded business 
through advertising. 

Business men who once scorned a liberal education are 
brushing up on tiicir Shakespeare, searching the dictionaries 
of synonyms, twisting their smatterings of P'rench and Latin 
into advertising names, and re-reading Scott and Plutarch 
for new advertising suggestions. The American Telephone 
and Telegraph Company uses the hero of Scott's "Lady of 
the Lake" in its advertisement, "The Instant Summons." 
Roderick Dhu used to summon his Highland warrioi-s by 
whistling. The advertisement compares this whistled sum- 
mons to the electric summons of to-day bj^ which the com- 
mander and chief of our :u-iny may ab<o gather his warriors 
together on the instant. 

The Johns Manville Asbestos Company uses the picture 
of Charlemagne's magic table cloth which was flung into tJhe 
fire and withdrawn unliurned for an advertisement of its 
asbestos. The Clar'.c E luipment Company in its advertise- 
ments of Clark axles represents power-controlled power by 
an allusion to the old Roman charioteer mastering his 
horses. We find Cleopatra advertising Palm Olive soap. 
Omar, cigarettes, and Hercules, smokeless gun powder. His- 
tory and Literature have invaded business. 
124 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 125 

An even more significant broadening of business through 
advertising has been felt during the war. Luring the 
pubHc into the market by art and wit has always been 




JAMES CADY EWELL 



POWER- CONTROLLED POWER 

— lives in every shaft, bolt and 
gear of Clark Axles. Their' 
masterful stamina laughs at 
road shocks and the brutal 
side thrusts of sharp comers. 

common. But teaching by poster has been comparatively 
recent. 

A concerted national effort to teach public welfare by pic- 
ture has invited business to enter the field of propaganda 
advertising also. Business has helped teach thrift, diet, 
health, charity, sanitation, and patriotism by poster. At 
the same time that it has advertised new products it has 
spread these lessons by means of slogans and pictures. 



126 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Thrift was linked with nut margarine, sanitation with 
Benetol, patriotism with hard coal. 

Through advertising we have introduced into Business 
the artistic, the hterary, the historic, the philosophic and the 
domestic. And more and more has this new field of business 
demonstrated a business man's need of a wide vocabulary, 
a fertile imagination and a range of literary background. 
In no other phase of business is there such a challenge to 
wit and imagination as in advertising. 

EXERCISES 

1. See whether "WTio's Who" gives any information 

concerning the three men mentioned in the first para- 
graph. Is "Who's Who" a useful reference book? 

2. What is meant by "liberal education in paragraph 2; 

"propaganda" in paragraph 3; by "philosophic" 
in paragraph 4. 

3. Bring to class examples of the following: 

(a) Teaching thrift liy poster. 

(b) Teaching sanitation by poster. 

(c) Teaching patriotism by poster. 

(d) Teaching health by poster. 

4. Arc these examples government, state, or community 

propaganda; or are they commercial advertising 
adopting the same methods? 

5. What is your opinion of this method of commercial 

advertising? 

6. Bring to class exanifik's of: 

(a) A literary character or alhision in an advertise- 

ment. 

(b) A poster of artistic as well as advertising merit. 

(c) A philosophic discussion in an advertisement. 

The Psychology of Advertising 

A Los Angeles club woman wiio responded to an adver- 
tising questionnaire .sent out by the woman's advertising club 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 127 

of that city made a significant answer to the query, "Do you 
read the Poster Boards?" "Yes, in spite of myself," was 
her answer. (The Poster, December, 1918.) 

Two soldiers were digging trenches. One asked the other 
whether he remembered the big poster back home saying: 
"Enhst and see the World." 

"Yes," replied his companion. "Why?" 

"Well, I didn't know we had to dig clear through it to 
the other side to see it." (The Poster, December, 1918.) 

These two stories illustrate graphically what is meant 
by the psychology of advertising. The "in spite of herself" 
in the first story tells the tale. It is the object of the ad- 
vertiser to do Just that; to interest the pubhc in spite of 
itself, to appeal subconsciously day after day until his appeal 
has fastened itself upon the public mind. A tactless sales- 
man is regarded as a common nuisance. Advertising is a 
silent salesman who may give his message without offense. 

The second story makes plain how the soldier happened to 
enlist. The man who coined that expression "Enlist and 
see the world" knew what appeal would make men join the 
army. He knew how human nature reacted to certain sug- 
gestions. 

The Psychology of Advertising is the ability to under- 
stand the effect of display upon the public mind. To know 
what will appeal in spite of peoples' wills to the contrary; 
to understand how to make folks act in spite of themselves, 
this is the psychological aspect of advertising. Psychology 
is the science of the mind; the psychology of advertising is 
the science of the public's mind 

Repetition in Advertising 

The advertising psychologist knows how repetition affects 
the public mind. 

"Constant repetition teaches a school boy his multipH- 
cation table so that he remembers it to his dying day, with- 
out having to brush up on it at any time. 



128 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

It teaches the melody of a popular song so that people 
hum it without thinking. 

It forms habits to which all humans are subject. 

And there you have the ' secret of poster advertising. 
Day after day crowds pass a certain spot and each time they 
pass they see a poster display with its brief message. 

A glance suffices. Often times they read the message 
mechanically as the school boy recites his lesson. But just 
as this boy thinks of his table when he wants to solve a prob- 
lem, so do these people think of that oft repeated message and 
act upon it when they need a product of the kind advertised. 

For repetition carries conviction. It has a way of making 
a man believe that he already knows the value of a product 
even before he buys it. 

And that's what you are seeking in advertising. You 
want a letter of introduction for your product to the people 
who have never bought it. You also wish to hold the in- 
terest of those who have. 

You want to hammer home to as many people as possible 
that your product is the best thoy can buy. The process 
is like driving a nail. The fii*st blow starts it, but it is re- 
peated blows that put it snugly home. 

Poster advert i.sing delivei-s these blows upon the sense of 
everybody every day. Its message is brief, but is shown in 
colors that attract the eye. And it repeats and repeats 
and repeats." 

— From " HnKhn'rr,'' by Walker il' Co., Detroit. 

Advertising Appeals to our Instincts 

There are deep rooted instincts in the human being. 
There is a racial habit of curiosity in all animals. Man in- 
stinctively desires to solve a mystery and settle a dispute. 
Con.sequently we find advertisers taking hold of this human 
tendency and using it for their own ends. Wo are all famil- 
iar with the mystery poster, the nuich over-worked ([uestion 
mark. These are obvious baits to our curiosity. There are 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 129 

many more subtle ways of teasing us into speculation. 
Some time ago, there appeared in a street car a picture of a 
bull dog pulling a rope. For weeks the street car riding 
public was tantahzed by such questions "Ask the chief of 
police; he knows." "Ask your neighbor; he knows." 
There was much genial speculation as to what poHtical 
party the dog was "pulling for." Few, I dare say, guessed 
that the dog was pulhng for Kimball's Shoes and that the 
chief of police wore Kimball's Shoes. 

Another human trait to which advertisers are fond of 
appealing is the almost universal desire to get something for 
nothing. The most useless souvenirs have lured the public 
into buying an almost equally worthless article. Paper 
weights, blotters, pencils, trinkets of all sorts and descrip- 
tions if "thrown in," tempt the pubHc to buy. The most 
recent and novel trinket I have seen is a fountain pen or 
pencil chp given as an advertisement. A blue and white 
button at the top of the cKp bears a shock of grain and the 
name of a company which manufactures breakfast food. 
The average mind is not quick to analyze the apparent 
generosity of the company. It accepts the gift and one never, 
according to the old adage, "looks a gift horse in the mouth." 

Advertisers constantly appeal also to our primitive love 
of color. All the brilliant hues that are used to hypnotize a 
savage or to stir a bull at a bull-fight are tried on the public 
with the same predestined results of charming or agitating 
or soothing or contrasting. The advertiser understands to 
a nicety the power of colors over the public. 

EXERCISES 

Find examples of the following : 

1. Consult the index of any of the books on Advertising 
listed in the bibliography of Chapter 7, under 
"Advertising" and read chapters on "Color in 
Advertising." 



130 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. Effective repetition in advertising. 

3. Clever premiums offered as inducements. 

4. Clever rhymes or ballads in advertising. 

5. A clever mystery advertisement. 

6. An advertisement that uses a story to hold attention. 

As long as men have talked at all, they have sung their 
adventures in ballad. And as long as men have related 
their experiences at all, they have woven them into stories 
to tell by the firelight. Deep seated in the modern man 
is love of rhyme and the tale. What is more natural in an 
advertiser's efforts to lure the public than to hark back to 
our traditional love of song and story? The bill-boards try 
to do just that; to tell us a story, or sing us a rhyme that we 
can catch after one reading. 

It is the intricate application of these old truths about 
ourselves that the advertiser understands so well and labels 
tl:e "Psychology of Advertising." 

Coinage of Words 

One of the very persistent contriluitors to our ever ex- 
panding English vocabulary is Advertising. Every adver- 
tising agency is litorall}^ a word factoiy which takes words 
from any other language, dead or alive, and compounds them 
with skill. It puts them together with the hope that they 
will cling to tlic memory of those who read them the first 
time. Often we find that these advertising labels are finally 
taken into the English language. Kodak is a familiar 
example. Korhk was once a mere trade name. If we look 
in the English dictionaiy, we find such words as aluminum, 
harometer, camera, tuxedo, — all names devised to advertise a 
product. But they were eventually admitted into the 
language. Such words a.s crisco, jello, karo, nabisco, oleo, 
pchcco, therynos, mpolio, prestolile, antiskid are other names 
for products coined by advertisers — although not yet 
admitted into the rank of real words. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 131 



rlocr 




rKQ 



THIS SIGN IS YOUR GUIDE TO 
GOOD PHOTO FINISHING SERVICE 

Photographic Appliances Corp'n 



116 So. Fourth St; 



Minneapolis 



AN EXAMPLE OF A HUMOROUS ADVERTISEMENT 



132 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 




A deal of ingenuity is put into the coining of trade names. 
Men ransack the dictionaries of all languages for new com- 
binations of syllables, new sounds that will please or fas- 
cinate by rhythmic excellence. There is no limitation to 
ways and means employed by advertisers. N^abisco was 
formed by taking the first part of each of the three words 
A^ational biscuit Company. 

Perhaps a more common method of coining words is that 
of combining the word? of a sentence or phrase into a single 

word. Such trade 
names as Uneeda, Tak- 
homa, Serv-us are cases 
in point. Sometimes 
it is the name of the 
inventor which identi- 

The Diamond Egg Carrier f^Qg the product 

such as Goodyear tires, and the Edison lights. Sometimes 
the trade name gives away the secret of the invention as 
in the Diamond Egg Carrier. The diamond-shaped com- 
partments protect the egg by diverting the pressure from 
the egg. Sometimes the trade name is a figure of speech, 
a comparison, a description — as in Cntspaw heels. There 
are almost as many methods of linking ideas and sounds 
together for trade names as there arc trade names them- 
selves. 

EXERCISES 

1. Think up a good name for your class, advertising its 

abihty to do business writing for the school. Im- 
itate any of the methods suggested above or invent 
one of your own. 

2. Suggest a picturesque name for any school club you 

lx'k)ng to. 

The Slogan 

A slogan originally meant a call used in battle, a rallying 
cry. During the war we felt very deeply the stimulating 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 133 




Reprinted by permission of The Fisk Rubber Co. 



134 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

effect of the slogan, the "Give your share" "Do your bit." 
But commerce before the war had adopted the slogan as a 
"rallying cry" also. It had its "Let Hartman Feather 
your Nest," "Eventually, why not now," "Say it with 
Flowers." We all recognize almost immediately the product 




advertised by "From contented cows," "It Floats," "His 
Master's Voice," "A Skin You Love to Touch," and "Time 
to Retire." Such expressive phrases are almost equivalent 
to trade names. 

EXERCISES 

1. Find other expressive slogans from Trade literature. 

2. Try this experiment: What picture or trade mark or 

trade name first occurs to j'ou when you read the 
names of the following articles? 



Oatinral 


Tobacco 


I'owd(T 


Soap 


('oudciiscd milk 


Salad dressing 


Chocolate 


rndcrwear 


Bread 


Collars 


Satin 


Hosiiry 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 135 

What does this experiment teach about Advertising? 
3. Write a theme on any of the following: 

(a) An advertisement that sold me goods. 

(6) An article that Hves up to its advertisement. 

(c) A slogan that brings trade. 

(d) A trade name that sticks in the memory. 

Facts about Advertising worth Finding Out 
I. Cost: 

1. What does a full page for one number of the following 

magazines cost the advertisers: the Cosmopolitan, 
the Saturday Evening Post, the Atlantic Monthly, 
the North American Review? 

Note." — Write to the advertising department for information. 

Explain the differences in cost. 

2. What are the advertising rates of your daily paper? 

3. What is the space rate of your street car advertising? 

4. What are bill-board rates in your city? 

5. Find out how much certain companies allot to ad- 

vertising funds in a year. 
II. Returns of Advertising: 

1. What are the methods by which returns from vari- 

ous advertisements are checked up by advertisers? 
See Calkens and Holden, ''Modern Advertising" 
chapter on "Mathematics of Advertising" for 
suggestions. 

2. Find examples of great profits following an adver- 

tising campaign. 

3. Get the experience of some retailer as to results 

achieved by some advertising device. For example, 
a window display used by your grocer. 
What impression does the information you have just 
gathered make upon you? What conclusions do you draw 
regarding the scope, importance, power, expense of adver- 
tising? 



136 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

PRGBLEIMS IN ADVERTISING 

Teaching the Student Public 

The following suggestions offer opportunities for effective 
propaganda advertising within your high school or com- 
munity. 

Within your high school: 

1. A clean-up week. 

2. A Better EngHsh Crusade. 

3. Join the Boy Scouts! 

4. Read more! 

5. A campaign against class room dishonesty. 

Suggestion for 6: "Write a story modeled after the story of 
"Faust!" Parallel the idea of selling one's soul. 

Within your community: 

1. Cleaning up of vacant lots and alleys. 

2. Keeping crossings clean. 

3. Removing unsightly bill-boards. 

4. Clotting waste pajx-r cans placed in residence districts. 

5. Keeping walks, fences, and buildings free from chiilk 

writing and pictures. 
G. Campaign against walking across lawns, pulling 
flowers, writing on walks. 

7. Protection of private projx^rty against damage. 

8. Keeping fresh water in the yards for birds and dogs 

during the summer. 

Suggestions 

1, Recall and put in outline form the special features in 
any of the following advertising campaigns: 

(a) The war chest campaign. 
(6) A Liberty I^oan Drive, 
(c) Better Health Crusade. 
{d) Red Cross Campaign. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 137 

(e) "Go to church" movement. 
(/) "Build your own home" movement. 
These may serve as suggestions for parallel treatment in 
your own advertising problem. 

2. Choose an appropriate and compelling title for your 

campaign. 

3. In your own high school, what chances are there for 

advertising by: 

(a) Newspapers — Have you a school paper? 

(6) Bill-boards — What can you substitute? 

(c) Parades — Are they feasible? 

(d) Form letters — Have you mimeographing facili- 

ties? 

(e) "Four minute men" — Have you a public 

speaking class? 
(/) Tags, leaflets, special bulletins — Are these 
practical? 

4. In tackling your problems consider : 

(a) The number of days over which your campaign 
is to extend. 

(6) Student human nature. 

(c) The advertising principles discussed in preced- 
ing pages. 

5. Consult the "Reader's Guide" for material on Clean- 

up Campaigns in cities, for articles on the Better 
Health Crusade or Better English Drive in schools 
in the United States. Use any of the suggestions 
you get, being sure to acknowledge your debt by an 
exact reference to the article which helped you. 

The Importance of Words in Advertising 

A glance at the advertising section of any modern news- 
paper will convince one of the growing importance attached 
to individual words and phrases in advertisements. The 
following quotations illustrate this new effort toward effec- 
tive and picturesque diction: 



138 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



Gift Thoughts 



A dainty blouse made from indestruct- 
able pure silk crepe in a myriad of 
charmingly blended colors. 

A beautiful petticoat whose flounce 
is a riot of gorgeous colorings. 

A pair of pettibockers of wonderful 
heavy silk jersey in suit shades. 

What could be more welcome than 
one of these practical gifts at Christ- 
mas time. 

Our selection of Gift Blouses and 
Petticoats is now complete and a won- 
derful assortment awaits your inspec- 
tion. Prices 

$4.95 to $20 



ADVERTISING AND 8ALESMANSH1P 139 

NEWSY NOTES ABOUT 
THESE DRESSES 

GILVER Tinsel, like spun frost, is lovely with delicate -Net and Tulle 
frUIs— 

DATIOtr Srd Vlnsr. 

A Frock 
effective for afternoon, very new and 
not a bit like anything your friends 
have — A R£?v££?tive Httle fluffy 
affair — A gown of elegance for din> 
ner or evening? You'll find any 
number of becoming ones at each 
price. 

Rich of fabric and tone, sumptuous iit fur 
adornment, or brilliant in touches of metal- 
lic cloths are the lovely new Dinner Hats 
shown at Donaldson's ! 

And equally charming, the youthful Hats 
for the Danse, with their bewitchino; lace or 
maline brims, their crowns and bandings of 
metallk cloths;, their artistic ad'^rnment. 



140 PROJECT BOOK IX BUSINESS ENGLISH 



RICH NEW SILKS 

All inspiration for desi-piicrs are these, new silks now beiag offered in this 
sale. No.velty weaves and artistic colonugs jilay a most prominent paM. From 
the glitjtering lengths of fancy silks, to the soft chiffon velvets, the lovalv print- 
ed georgette crepes, fhe gleaming satins and tailored w ool poplins, herfe'is com- 
plete index to Fashion's Silks for Winter. -~~~— " 



THE very latest dress hats— those de- 
signed for afternoon and restaurant 
wear are small and medium sized — a wel- 
come innovation for the woman who dances 
—and are i nterpreted by filmy maline, and 
the finest of metalliclaces and cloth of gold. 

A maline brim that r ojls sweepinglv from the 
face is attached to its satin crown under the 
gayest of orange bows, $25. 

Taupe Maline and Qold lac£_l]^^ve conspired 
to^ produce a fctchinqTurban thnt reveals one's 
coiirure ■ pen cell v." A wonderful French blua 
rose is set at a daring angle, $27.50. 

A group of fur and rnetallic cloth hats is also 
shown. Those include the becoming saucer 
brim, tarn and turban shapes that are wind-de- 
fving and ever so youthful in appearance. 
Prices range upwards from $25. 

THE HAT SHOP— SECOND FLOOR 

QUESTIONS 
1. Analyze the clTcctivcness of the uiKlerlincd words. 
Pick out tho.«o words that: 
(a) sup;gcst vivid pictures 
(6) make a figure of speech 
(c) stir the senses. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 141 

2. In No. 3 what does "provocative" mean as used 

here? Is it a good word to use? 

3. What verbs in these advertisements are descriptive? 

4. How would you characterize the choice of words in 

No. 4? 

EXERCISES 

1. Visit a fabric department in any drygoods store and 

then think up a sentence to be used for advertising 
purposes describing vividly the beauty and worth 
of velvets, chiffons, satins etc. Use figures of speech 
where possible. Make your verbs as well as your 
adjectives and adverbs assist you in describing. 

2. Cut out of newspapers, advertisements that illustrate 

effective choice of words. Note the diction of the 
Diamond Crystal Salt advertisements on pages 
142 and 143. 

3. Write descriptive sentences advertising any of the 

following kinds of merchandise. In each case 
appeal to the imagination. Emphasize significant 
details concerning the article, the convenience, 
comfort, luxury, beauty, etc. Be concrete. 

(a) tools (/) stationery 

(6) house paint {g) toys 

(c) fresh vegetables Qi) camping outfits 

{d) furniture {i) sporting goods 

(e) hats {j) home baking 

Note. — Choose any single article under the class named. 

Every now and then there appears at appropriate times 
of the season, or at times propitious for the business of the 
concern, special advertising of some single article. The 
following headhne illustrates this idea. 

''SLIPPERS" 



For All the Family 



142 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 




White as the fleecy crest of clouds by 
moonlight Pure as the distant air 
they drift ih. Feathery fine in tex' 
ture. That is Diamond Crystal 
Shaker Salt. Always flows freely. 
Imparts a rare dehcacy to all food 
flavors. Sanitary package; easily 
opened cap. AsJ^ for 

Diamond Crystal 
Shaker San 

iHmnat bMklM. "Om H.xind aad 0» !.'•» (or S«U.' o* n g m l 
DIAMOND CtYSTAL SALT CO. SAINT CLAlit. MICHIGAN 
S»« 1W7. Mtktr% ^ DIAMOND CRYSTAL 



ri(TLKL.-^cjrE URTlUN IN AUVEUTISINU 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 143 




/ - 



White as fresh-fallen snow. Finer 
than the tiniest flakes. Pure as 
country aJx. Free-flowing and deli' 
cate in flavor. That is Diamond 
Crystal Shaker Salt. The appetite's 
whet at mealtime. Sanitary package; 
easily opened cap. Request — 

Diamond Crystal 

Shaker Salt 

Interesting booklet "One Hundred and One Uses for Salt." on request 

blAMOND CRYSTAL SALT CO.. SAINT CLAIR. MICHIGAN 

Since iaS7. Makers of -jUSaetmatia^Saar 



PICTURESQUE DICTION IN ADVERTISING 



144 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

This advertisement of slippers was effective for the very 
reason of its unity. Slippers for every member of the family 
were described in detail. The writer of the advertisement 
wrote a veritable little essay on "The Comfort of Shppers." 

EXERCISES 

1 . Taking this idea, write a Christmas advertisement for 

the sHpper department of some shoe store. Perhaps 
a visit to a shoe store will remind you of the vari- 
eties of shppers there are for men, women, and chil- 
dren. Describe each one making special appeal to 
those who would be interested. 

2. Try a similar method of advertising: 

(a) Rubbers for the whole family. 

(6) Flowers for all occasions. 

(c) Bedding for all the family. 

(d) Candy for gifts. 

(e) Stationery for all occasions. 

Note. — Create an atmosphere which is appropriate. Look 
for sirnilar advcrtisijig in ncu'spapcrs ; imitate but do not 
copy. Be concrete. 

Winning by story 

The following advert isoment occurred in the Literary 
Digest of DocoinlxT 1, 1017. 

Ls the title alhuing? 

Ls the opening narrative interesting? 

Is the end of the advertisement effective? 

Imitate this method of advertising in any of the assign- 
ments that follow. 

A Suggestion to Congress 

We were sitting in the smoking compartment of a Pull- 
man, iiitcheil to a broken-down engine that was jerking its 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 145 

way along the uneven tracks that paralleled the St. Croix 
River. I had just been up the Grand Lake Streams for a 
few weeks' fishing, and as the engine labored along I half 
closed my eyes and dreamily played a monster trout on a 
gossamer line. Just as I was about to land my catch, the 
chap opposite me remarked, in the same matter of fact tone 
in which he might have said good evening, "How can they 
do it for sixty cents?" He seemed perfectly sane, so my 
first impulse to plead an engagement developed into the 
conventional "I beg your pardon?" He continued: "When 
those first two books came — just think — a 350 page copy 
of ' Thus Spake Zarathustra ' — I had tried for months to 
get that last work of kultur, and a volume of the finest col- 
lection of 13 de Maupassant stories I have ever seen. Un- 
abridged, good paper, fine, large print, I felt I had cheated 
the pubhshers." He paused for breath, and before he could 
resume, I had opened my bag and fished out two charming 
Ump croftleather volumes, "The Way of All Flesh" and 
"The Mayor of Casterbridge," with Joyce Kilmer's intro- 
duction. I knew by this time that he was talking of the 
Modern Library. 

Just then the crazy engine grunted and pulled up at Ma- 
chias, where Preston told some lumberjacks the yarn about 
Isaac Newton cutting a big hole and a small hole in the side 
of his barn, so that both his big cat and her kittens could 
get through. We could still hear their appreciative guffaws 
as I started to tell Preston a lot about the Modern Library 
that he didn't know. He let his pipe go out several times 
when I told him that Clifford Smyth, Hterary editor of the 
New York Times, said: "If real merit in typography, 
binding, convenience, and — best of all — subject matter, 
counts for anything, these books are certainly deserving of 
a fine measure of success. They fill a need that is not quite 
covered, so far as I have observed, by any other publication 
in the field just now." I waxed eloquent and explained 
that many people thought the fine introductions, by such 



146 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

men as Padraic Colum, Alexander Harvey, Lafcadio Hearn, 
etc., were alone worth the sixty cents. I explained that the 
Modern Library included books that had never been pub- 
hshed in this country before, such as "Married" and "A 
Miracle of St. Antony"; that it bought from other publishers 
the right to reprint such worth while books of contempo- 
raneous interest as Wells' "War in the Air," Chesterton's 
"The Man Who Was Thursday," Schnitzler's play, etc. 
"Best Sellers don't mean entree to the Modern Library," 
I said, "though the 'Best Russian Stories,' 'Way of All 
Flesh,' 'Dorian Gray' and several others have been reprinted 
several times in this series." 

"Do you reahze," said Preston, "that those fellows are 
doing something big? Only one or two foreign publishers 
have attempted anything as fine as that Modern Library." 

"That's just what Mencken of the Smart Set, Kerfoot 
of Life, and all the other critics are saying," I answered. 
"Clarence Day says, in this month's Metropolitan: 'They 
are not only books you ought to have, but l)ooks you 
want to have.' People are learning that these books, by 
the greatest thinkers and writei-s of our time, are more 
delightful and engrossing reading than the junk they ordi- 
narily read. There isn't a book in the Modern Library 
that a man with any pretension to culture and ecUication 
would not l)e interested in. In fact, the Neiv York Mail 
si\'u\ that in these tiine.s jioopie are sick of clieap stuff and that 
there is no book in the Modern Library that a civiHzed man 
would not be proud to have in his hbrary. Then, too, that 
limj) croftleather binding, with gold monogram and stamp- 
ing, is one of the most artistic bindings I have ever seen. 
The books are ideal for Christmas gifts. I am advising all 
my friends to send their orders at once." 

"Great heavens, man," Preston exclaimed, "I'm a 
Modern Library fan myself, but they ought to have you 
on the payroll." 

"Well to tell you tlie truth, they iiave," I replied, with 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 147 

somewhat of a sheepish grin. "In fact, I'm one of the 
publishers of it. I wouldn't have started talking about it 
if you hadn't wound me up, so you'll have to excuse me, 
and — " 

"Excuse you, nothing! There ought to be an act of 
Congress obliging everyone to read the Modern Library. 
And I'll call it square if you give me one of your new lists 
and have breakfast at the Parker House with me in the 
morning." (The Kst was appended in the original adver- 
tisement.) 

EXERCISES 

Imitate this method of advertising in your choice of the 
following: 

(a) Advertising Night School. 
(6) A course in MiUinery. 

(c) A recipe book. 

(d) An electric apparatus. 

The following opening sentences might offer helpful sug- 
gestions. 

For (a) . — Yesterday she was one of New York's thousands 
of working girls caught in the daily grind of a monotonous 
job. To-day she is an independent business woman, happy 
and prosperous. 

For (6) . — Mary put on her worn velvet toque with a 
jerk, made a sour face at her image in the glass and went 
off to work, with a groan. "I don't see why I can't look like 
other folks," she muttered to herself. 

For (c) . — A bit of blue gingham lay prostrate on the 
davenport. A strong odor of burnt sugar filled the room. 

For (d). — "Blue Monday's here again," sighed Mrs. 
Andrews, "Just look at that basket of clothes." 

Fables in Advertising 

The merit of a product may be advertised by fable. The 
following fable entitled "Values," by Walt Mason, appeared 
in the trade magazine, The Forge, February, 1919. 



148 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Values 
Old Hiram Hucksmith makes and sells green wagons with red 
wheels; and merry as a string of bells in his old age he feels. For 
over all the countr\'side his wagons have their fame, and Hiram 
sees, with wholesome pride, the prestige of his name. 

He alwaj's tells his men: "Bj^ jings, my output must be good! 
Don't ever use dishonest things — no worm}' steel or wood ; use 
notliing but the choicest oak, use sih-er mounted tacks, and every 
hub and every spoke must be as sound as wax. I want the men 
who buy my carts to ad^•ertise them well; I do not wish to break 
the hearts of folks to whom I sell." 

The farmers bought those wagons green, with wheels of spark- 
ling red, and worked them up and down, I ween, and of them often 
said: "You cannot bust or wear them out, and if you'd break their 
holt, you'd have to have a waterspout or full-sized thunderbolt. 
The way they hang together's strange, they ought to break but 
won't; most earthly tilings decay or change, but these blamed 
wagons don't." 

Old Hiram's heart with rapture thrilled, to hear that sort of 
stuff; he worked and worked but couldn't build his wagons fast 
enough. And now he lives on I'>asy Street, most honored of all 
men who toddle doA\ii our ^^llage street, and then back up again. 

Old Jabez Jenkings long has made blue wagons with pink spokes, 
and once he had a goodly trade among the fanner folks. With 
pride his bo.som did not swell; he knew not to aspire; to get up 
wagons that would .sell — that was his one desire. And so he made 
his wheels of pine, where rosewood should have been, and counted 
on the painting fine, to hide the faults within. 

And often when this .sad old top wjus toiling in his shed, a cus- 
tomer would seek his shop and deftly punch his head. Wherever 
Jenkings' wagons went, di.sii.st<^r with them flew; the tires came 
off, the axles bent, the kingbolts liroke in two. You'd see the 
fanners standing guard above their ruined loads, and stringing 
language by the yard that fairly scorched the roads. 

This Jenkings now is old and worn; his business is decayed; 
and he can only sit and mourn o'er dizzy breaks he made. Old 
Hiram's plan should suit all men who climb Trade's rugged hill. 
Give value for the shining coin you put into your till. 

— Walt Masou. The Forge Magazine, February, 1919. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 149 

EXERCISE 
Imitate this method of advertising in an original fable on 
any of the following articles : 

(a) Two kinds of baking powder. 

(6) Two kinds of soap. 

(c) Any other products you think of. 

Dramatic Advertising 

Choose one of the following suggestions and write a one 
act play which might be used to introduce to the pubhc the 
method or article named. 

1. Jane goes to the attic to get her mother's wedding 

dress that she is to wear at her own wedding. The 
dress smells so strongly of moth balls that she hangs 
it out to air. The dress is blown from the line by 
sudden wind and falls into a puddle. It is apparently 
ruined for the approaching occasion. 

Advertise a dry cleaning method. Make particular use of 
details. 

2. Miss Brown wastes precious time trying to figure 

correctly. Her employer one day calls for a state- 
ment which is not ready. He has just expressed 
indignation, as a salesman of the Dalton Adding 
machine enters. 

Advertise the Adding machine. 

3. Take a simple plot to advertise some well-known 

articles or devices and work it into an animated 
cartoon advertisement to be used on the movie 
screen. 

4. Using cut-out pictures of well-known advertisements 

for illustrations, write a simple play on the title, 

''It Pays to Advertise." Model your play after 

the play by that title already written. 

The following playlet written by a senior illustrates 

what students can do. Perhaps you have a dramatic class 



150 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

in your school that will present one of your best plays before 
the school. This one was produced by such a class. Note 
the different ways in which Nervine is suggested throughout 
the play. Criticize the play in any way that will assist 
you to construct better plots and effect cleverer advertising. 

SHE FORGOT; THEREBY HANGS A TALE 

A One-Act Play 
Advertising Dr. Miles' Nervine 

Cast 
Mrs. Smith. 

Mrs. Browx, a neighbor. 
The Reverend Mr. Jones. 
A Druggist, the villain. 

Directions for St.\ge 

Scene I. In front of the curtain. 

Scene IT. Living-room in the Smith home. One half of the room 
is in order and the other half is in great cotifusion. A lohite chalk 
line separates the two parts. At one side of the room standi a ladder 
against the wall near a picture. Ckaning apparatus, dmt cloths, 
etc. On the top of the ladder is a bottle of Xervitie. Mrs. Smith No. I 
lies sleeping on a couch. A second Mrs. Smith does the acting in the 
scene while .Mrs. Smith Xo. I continues to sleep. 

Scene I 

(Enter Mrs. Smith and .\frs. Brown from oppn.tite sides of the 
stage. They meet in center and converse. Both have numerous packages.) 

Mrs. Smith. How-do-you-do, Mrs. Brown. How are j'ou and 
the family? 

Mrs. Brown. Very well, thank you. And you? 

Mrs. Smith. I'm just worn to a frazzle, honestly, Mrs. lirown. 
I'm house cleaning and what do you think? Reverend Jones called 
to-tlay and a.sked me to make a chicken pie for the church sui)per 
next Friday. I was right in the midst of cleaning when lie came. 
I had a towel around my head and I looked just dreadful. I don't 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 151 

know what I'll do. The butcher didn't think he would have a 
chicken when I stopped there just now (sighs wearihj). How do 
you get along with your sugar allowance? I'm having just an 
awful time, I declare to goodness I am. I have got my last two 
pounds for the month and here it is only the twentieth. I suppose 
if I get an extra two pounds the Red Cross will get after me. Oh, 
dear, it's enough to drive a person insane. I worry so much that 
I can't sleep. And if I do, I have the most terrible dreams. 

Mrs. Brown. Why Mrs. Smith! What makes you worry so? 
You need a tonic of some kind to steady your nerves. Why don't 
you try a bottje of Dr. Miles' Nervine. I have tried it and have 
been greatly helped by it. I use it whenever I get upset or when- 
ever I lose sleep. Take a dose to-night and you'll rest as you have 
never rested before {starts to go) . And it's a sure cure for nightmare. 

Mrs. Smith (turning around as she walks away). I'll try a bottle. 
It's just what I seem to need. Now the next thing is to remember 
to take it. I'm so absent minded. Come to see me some time, 
Mrs. Brown. Good-by. 

Scene II 

(Mrs. Smith No. 2 enters living-room wearing an afternoon dress 
and carrying a knitting bag. She draws a dust cloth out, also a bottle 
of furniture polish and starts to dust the furniture. She attempts to 
get to the dirty side of the room but cannot get across the white line. 
Something seems to hold her back every time she attempts it.) 

Mrs. Smith to herself. Oh, dear. I can't seem to get this clean- 
ing done. (She attempts to cross the line, gets dizzy when her foot 
touches the line, wrings her hands.) I wonder why I can't get across 
into that dirt. What shall I do? What if some one should come? 

(A knock is heard. She goes to the door and lets in the preacher. 
He walks into the room crosses the line with perfect ease, and sits down 
on the dirty side of the room, much to the apparent dismay of Mrs. 
Smith.) 

Rev. Jones. I see that you are very busy. I suppose you have 
heard of our annual chicken-pie supper. I came to ask you if you 
would donate a bottle of Nervine for the supper. Will you? 

Mrs. Smith. Oh, Reverend Jones, I don't think I can get 
Nervine. The butcher wasn't sure he would have any when I 
asked to-day, but I will try to get a pie made for the supper. 



152 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Rev. Jones. Thank you, J\lrs. Smith, I know we can depend 
upon 3^ou. 

(He takes his hat from a round on the ladder and leaves the room 
backward. Mrs. Smith puts the cleaning articles into her knitting 
bag pids on a pair of rubbers and leaves the room.) 

(Reenter Mrs. Smith, with a bottle of Nervine which she hides under 
a chair.) 

Mrs. Smith. At last I have it. I've been to every butcher in 
town but they were all sold out. Now for the pie. (Just as she is 
about to leave for the kitchen, a large policeman with a red cross on 
his arm enters. Mrs. Smith glances nervously at the Nervine under 
the table.) 

PoLiCE.\i.\N. Mrs. Smith, I am from the Red Cross. You have 
overdrawn your sugar allowance. Give me that Nervine or go to 
jail. (Folds his arms and glares at her.) 

' Mrs. S.mith (pleadingly). Oh don't take it. I have been 
all over town for it. I need it for the chicken pie. Please 
leave it. 

PoLiCEM.w. Give me that Nervine! This is the twentieth of 
the month and you can't have any more Nervine. 

Mrs. Smith (giving him the Nervine which she du.'its before handing 
it to him). But I still have ten more days to go. Wliat shall I do 
for the church supper (exit policeman). 

(Mrs. Smith wipes the tears from her eyes. Enter a druggist ivith 
a bottle of Nervine in his hand.) 

Drugcjist. Rcvereiui Jones said you needed a chicken for the 
church supper and that you thought your butcher wouldn't have 
one so he sent me here to give you this. (He puts it upon the top 
of the ladder.) Climl) up there and say a poem for me and you 
may have it. 

Mh.s. Smith (nervously rlindnng (he ladder). If Nervine is such 
a splendid nerve tonic I should think you would have to keep it 
on the lower shelves. Think of making your customers climl> 
after their own j)urchases. (She clings desperately to the ladder as 
she recites.) 

I'pstairs, downstairs, in my ladies' chamber. 

There I met a lame man who wouldn't say his prayers 

I took him i)y the left leg 

And threw him down the stairs. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 153 

(She takes the bottle and climbs carefully down.) Thank you a hun- 
dred times. 

Druggist, airily. Oh, don't mention it. (As Mrs. Smith alights 
she stops and holds the bottle to the light. She discovers it empty.) 

Mrs. Smith. My Heavens! It is empty! (She falls in a faint 
at the edge of the stage, out of view. The other Mrs. Smith wakes with 
a start and rubs her head.) Oh, what an awful dream! And to 
think it could have been prevented if I had only taken Dr. Miles' 
Nervine. (She goes to the telephone and telephones the Drug Store.) 
Hello. Crane's Drug Store? (Curtain.) 

The Advertising Letter in School Advertising 

The letter is a convenient means of reaching the individual 
in your school. The following letters were written by stu- 
dents to advertise two school affairs. They were distrib- 
uted to 1200 students upon their entrance into the school 
auditorium. The methods are the common eccentric ones 
of to-day, feature methods of gaining attention. Are these 
methods effective in high school advertising, do you think? 
Do they reach the student pubHc better than more serious 
advertising would? 

What school performances can your class advertise similarly 
by letter? 

Blank High School 
April 21, 1919 

Hello, Central! 

Give me 

Hysterics, or, a-- 

No! No! ! 

I mean give me Blank High Alumni. I quite 
forgot I wasn't Cluney, the absent- 
minded bridegroom. It's the bride's 
mother who has hysterics. The thief 
stole the bride's pigeon-blood ruby 
ring. I'm all upset. 

But they'll have hysterics when they see-- 
Hello! Central? Don't give me the 



154 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

busy signal. Hello! Blank High 

Alumni? 
The June Class '19 will present the comedy 

"Stop Thief!" on Thursday and Friday, 

May 8th and 9th at 8:15 P.M. 
Tickets? Yes, now at Blank High School or 

at the Cable Piano Co.; all seats 

reserved. 
How much? 50^/ and 35j/. 
Sure, it's good! 

Well, so long, 



Advertising Manager. 



Ma deah Peculiah: 



See you later. 



Blank High School. 
May 14, 1919 



Honey, dey's gonna be big doins down heah 
Friday night, the 23d. 

De ode' night after school when I was fixin 
de roof ma' foot slip and I was fallin to n: : 
death. "Lawd, Lawd," I cried, "save me." 
An de Lawd done save dis nigga's hide, for 
jes' den I caught on a nail. An as I was a 
swinging on dat nail I saw dem Minstrel 
folkes a practicin' der show. 

Dose ole Dixie melodies were nuff to make 
mah ha't go flittah, fluttah an I mos' spun 
off dat spike. Yes suh, it sho ' made me 
homesick to heah dem niggahs strumming on de 
banjos, an a croonin' out dem coon lullabys. 

And say da, Peculiah, you should a hea'd 
dose nigga's swappin nonsense ya'ns as dey 
sat fishin' from off de stage. You come wid 
me to dat Minstrel Show an you sho' will 
pass away. Ah reckon you' 11 laugh dat ole 
black face ob yourn clean off. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 155 

And oh, Peculiah, while dat dar wind was a 
spinnin' me aroun' like a Dutch windmill, I 
listened to de mos' lot ob scandal a nigga 
eber told. Jes you meet me out in de alley 
by de gahbage can, an I'll whispa yo ' an ea' 
full. 

Doz yo ' all remembah de niggah po'tah what 
shuffled his feet in de audito'um? Oh Lawd. 
but Chuck can do som jiggin'! 

^s de nail kep ' a rippin' thru ma trousas I 
prayed de good Lawd to let me down easy like 
on my feet so's I could live to take mah 
honey to dat dar real show. I'll whistle as 
I go by to-night, honey, an don yo^ dare say 
no to dis heah niggah. 

You's inte'nally, 

Rastus . 

P. S. I mos'fo'got. Tickets ah on sale 
Priday ob dis week, so's yo ' 11 hab to choose 
now between dis ole Rastus and dat useless 
niggah I'se seen hangin' ovah yo ' back 
fence. 



The Advertising Letter Applied to Outside Reading 

The following letters were written by students as adver- 
tising letters urging their classmates to read the book which 
they had read for outside reading. Criticize each on the 
following matters: 

1. Its ability to secure and hold attention. 

2. Its power of inducing you to read the book. 

3. Its apphcation of business principles. 

Choose one of the books in the bibliography given in the 
last chapter of this text and imitate this method of adver- 
tising a good book for reading. 



156 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

I 

Feloruary 7, 1919 
Dear Ruth: 

"Know what you are taking." 

Get "How to Write an Advertisement" by 
S. Ronald Hall, and you will. There are 
three reasons why you will like it. 

1. It has large, clear print. 

Does 200 pages of this type appeal to 
you? 

"PUT YOUR PERSONALITY INTO THE ADVER- 
TISEMENT." 

See how much easier it is to read? 
Now you- understand why I chose Mr. Hall's 
"book. 

2. It is well illustrated: 

The Best Way to The Best 

Keep Flies Out Way to Keep Plies Out. 

Have you ever tried to combine words 
so that they will catch the eye and convey 
the meaning quickly? " See how much easier it 
is to get the meaning from the phrasing in 
the first spacing than it is in the second 
one. 

3. It is full of new ideas. 

Supposing you had to write an adver- 
tisement for a wire fence so that farmers 
would want to buy it. Can you think of 
shorter words with more force than these, 
"horse high, pig tight, bull strong"? 

Did you know that the human eye can 
see more horizontally than vertically? 
That is the reason all important words in an 
advertisement should be written in two 
lines. 

Do you know the three big essentials 
for a good advertisement? 

Read "How To Write an Advertisement" 
if you want to find out. 

Your friend. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 157 

II 

-Fe^. 6, 1919. 
Dear Students : 

You all enjoy going to see a motion 
picture. Have you ever thought how very 
much like a motion picture our lihrary is? 
We are continually adding new books to the 
old collections-. The library books are 
being transferred to other libraries all the 
time . 

Students, you know as a rule, we never 
venture near our library, unless we are 
assigned a special topic or a book to read. 

I don't think we realize how much we 
are missing. We think of the library as a 
room with an endless number of books which 
some time or other we may have to read for 
English. 

Just the other day we were assigned a 
book to read and I hurried to the library 
as most of us do, found the book I wanted, 
and hurried out again. 

The book I happened to choose was 
"Advertising by Moving Pictures." I took 
the book because of the title. It seemed to 
be the most interesting one on the shelf. 
Listen to what the book has to say for 
itself. 

"1 was taken from the Central Library 
and placed on a shelf of your Library. I 
can tell you many clever ways business men 
have to advertise goods. I can also tell 
you something about how your favorite Stars 
are being used for advertising purposes 
and how much it costs to advertise by pic- 
tures. I can tell you this in such an 



158 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

interesting way you will read me right 
through without missing one word. I am 
soon going back to my- own library so hurry- 
up and read me . ' ' 

Yours very truly, 



III 

February 10, 1919 



Dear Students: 



Did you or any member of your family 
ever use sapolio in the kitchen? You per- 
haps never thought that at least $1,000 a 
day is spent in advertising that small cake. 
Now don't laugh. It's true. Mr. Morgan 
discovered the sapolio form.ation by acci- 
dent. His physician gave him the name and 
then he launched into an advertising cam- 
paign which resulted in a neat fortune. 

Now how about shaving? Did you ever 
use a "Star Razor"? Mr. Kampfe cut nearly a 
million dollars out of the world's pocket 
with its keen edge and it is by no means 
dull yet. This was only accomplished 
through the medium of advertising. If you 
asked these people if advertising paid they 
would give you an answer similar to that Mr. 
William G. Bell of Boston, Mass., gave: 

"We answer 'Yes' to the question 
'Does your advertising pay?' 
And will keep on advertising 
While we have a word to say." 

I am not advertising sapolio or "Star 
Razors"; but aren't you a little interested 
in these stories? There are dozens of cases 
similar to these, all told in story form in 
a book on "Fortunes Made in Advertising." 
It's just full of ideas that were turned 
into cash. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 159 

The world is asking for ideas. Why 
not go to the lihrary some vacant period and 
get a glimpse into the "Fortunes Made in 
Advertising." Perhaps you, too, may stum- 
ble over a neat fortune. 

Yours truly. 

Personal Advertising 

1. Give a four minute advertising speech announcing the 

opening of Football season, Baseball games, Tennis 
Tournament, or any other school activity which 
needs the support of the school. 

2. Make a soliciting address for subscriptions to school 

annual or school paper. 

3. Advertise in a personal announcement card your ser- 

vices as stenographer or musician about the school. 

Advertising Specialties 

Collect for imitative use any special advertising devices 
that you can, for example, bookmarks, leaflets, clever letters 
and so forth. The following suggestions will assist you. 

What is the value of such specialties? Could your school 
in any of its activities imitate the bookmark, the leaflet, in 
its advertising? 



Who'll Give a Book to the Soldiers g Sailors? 

One I'll give, ==^=^== 

Twa I'll give, 

Three I give, I say. 

Four I give with all my heart. 

Five I'll give today. 




At least one Book from every boy or girl. 



BRING IT TO SCHOOL THIS WEEK 



160 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Salesmanship 

The salesman is an everyday person whom we all know 
well. We have all been tricked by the clever salesman, 
bored by the dull salesman, and compelled by the honest 
salesman. In a layman's way, we have all analyzed the 
principles of salesmanship; there are few who could not in 
some sort of fashion tell what he thinks good or bad sales- 
manship is. 

There is no inherent difference between the principles of 
advertising and salesmanship. What has already been said 
of advertising applies in varjang ways to salesmanship. 
One can best get at these simple facts about salesmanship by 
sorting his own observations. 

What I have observed about Salesmen 

Wi'itc yoin- pci-sonal impressions on any of the following 
topics the teacher may assign: 

1. The cleverest salesman I over met. 

2. A neat entrance by a salesman. 

3. An abrupt exit that created suspicion. 

4. A graceful "get-a-way." 

5. A human sort of salesman. 

6. The memorized speech. 

7. Tricks I have seen through. 

8. Enthusiasm that was contiipioun. 

9. Pests of the Public (the sort of salesman who is a 

pul)lic nuisance). 

10. Salesmen who iK'lieve in themselves. 

11. The handicaps of house-to-house soliciting. 

12. The discourtesy of tlie public seen by a salesman. 

13. Clever sentences that gained attention. 

14. The sort of clerks I like. 

15. "Selling" oneself every day. 

16. Salesmanship depends on the little courtesies. 

17. Taking rebuffs gracefully. 



ADVERTISING AND SALESMANSHIP 161 

19. "Selling" your recitations to the teacher. Do you 

apply salesmanship? 

20. Selhng your services to your employer. 

21. Salesmanship for those who don't sell. 

22. Salesmanship, an oversupplied field. 

23. Salesmanship, an opportunity! 

24. Quahfications for salesmen. 

25. Opportunites for men in selling things. 

26. Experiences I have had in selhng. 

Practice in Oral Salesmanship 

1. Demonstrate, as if for sale, some comphcated article, 

a Kodak, for example. Aim to be clear. 

2. Auction to the class some small article, a second hand 

fountain pen or knife. Aim to be lively, humorous, 
enthusiastic. Appeal to the sporting instinct of the 
students. 

3. Sell tickets to any school function. 

4. In conjunction with another pupil, try to sell to the class 

some article, a different brand of which the second 
pupil is also trying to sell. Try to persuade the 
class to believe in the superior merits of your brand. 

5. Pretend to sell the book that you have just finished 

reading for outside reading. 

Suggestions 

1. Remember that in all the assignments you are a sales- 

man whether you actually exchange an article for 
money or not. In No. 1 you are "selling" your 
demonstration; you aim to convince. In 2 and 3 
you may actually sell the article. In 4 you are 
selhng your conviction, or perhaps the article. 
And in 5 you are "selling" your recommendation 
of the book. 

2. Think up some good method of beginning your reci- 

tation. Try leaving the room and reentering, as 



162 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

for the first time. Such an introduction may 
make your sale seem more of an actual encounter 
and less of a stiff recitation. 

3. Don't cling to the front seat. Tear yourself away from 

all the furniture in the room and give yourself a 
chance to be self-reliant. 

4. Forget that you are in a class room. Imagine you 

are on a front porch, at a back door, in an office, 
anywhere that you might be were you actually 
selling the article you have chosen. If necessary, 
write on the board before you start a few "stage 
directions" for the benefit of the class. And let 
the atmosphere thus miaginatively created, affect 
your talk. 

5. Call the class by some name. Either address individ- 

uals by their name or, if you are treating the class 
as an individual, give it some name. 

6. Don't "tackle" your customei-s. Don't crash into 

the minds of the class unexpectedly; approach 
them from their own point of view. Talk mth 
them, not at them. Refer to something that has 
just happened in the class; get them to converse 
with you. Dont' start right in selling. 

7. Don't imitate the ".<;alcsman" that has just preceded 

you. 

8. Tr>' to recall clever methods of salesman you have 

known. 

9. Sell to groups of students, or to indivi(hials if you 

think the cla.ss as a whole is not a good customer. 
Soil to the boys, to the girls, to Miss Jones or to 
members of some club etc. 
10. Finish your recitation; don't just stop speaking with 
a grunt of cmbarnussment. Know what you aim to 
accomplish. Is it to convince, to get promises, to 
sell? Have a definite purpose and bring it to a 
neat conclusion before you think of sitting down. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 

One has only to look into the biographies of some of our 
great men to be convinced of the tremendous influence of 
books. Yet often busy business men are heard to say, 
"I haven't time to read." In all truth, however, an ambi- 
tious man in competition with the educated man hasn't 
time ''not to read." More and more the average man has 
to reckon with the man who takes time to read as he takes 
time to exercise. 

'•'Men in every practical department of life," said Presi- 
dent Hadley of Yale University, "men in commerce, trans- 
portation, manufacturing, have told me that what they 
wanted was men who have the selective power of using books 
efficiently." It is this power of knowing and using books 
that is so important to acquire. 

EXERCISES 

1. Look up in the biographies of such men as Gladstone, 

Lincoln, FrankHn, Roosevelt, what these men tell 
of the influence of books on their lives. 

2. Read ''Self Investment" by O. S. Harden, Chapters 

9-12 on the importance of reading. 

3. Read Maxwell's "If I were Twenty-one Again" and 

report to the class what he thinks about reading. 

4. In an oral theme expand the ideas suggested in the 

following quotations : 

"Read and heed. Learn to harness other people's ideas along 
with your own. Real power is attained by combining forces." — 
The Poster, December, 1918. 

163 



164 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

"Some people spend so vast an amount of energy on choosing 
books that thej^ have none left to read them. To read a second- 
rate book well is better than to read a first-rate book badly." 

— Arnold Bennett. 

" It is well to read two books simultaneously — to read a bit of 
one and then a bit of the other. A varied diet is not only more 
amusing; it is healthier." — Arnold Bennett. 

"Read! Learn to think with-and-against-the deep thinkers of 
the world!" — Maxwell, "If I were 21." 

Theme Topics 

(Written or oral; suggestions offered may be enlarged or 
condensed at teacher's discretion.) 

1. Reading on the street car. 

2. The best time of the day to read. 

3. Reading in bed. 

4. The kind of books I most enjoy. 

5. Enjoying i)ooks I do not hke. 

6. Continued stories, my pet abomination, or, Waiting 

for the next installment. 

7. It is never too late to read. 

8. Books I recommend. 

9. Book Reviews I have read. 

10. Books I have read more than once. 

11. Authors I have come to know. 

12. Books I would like to own. 

13. Books that have influenced me. 

14. Magazines every one should know. 

15. Criticize the following list of magazines compiled 

from students' own statements regarding the 
periodicals they habitually read: 

Note. — Stars indicate decided popularity. 

1. The American Magazine* 

2. The Lfutics' Home Journal. 

3. The Pictorial Review. 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 165 

4. The Photoplay Magazine.*** 

5. The Red Book* 

6. The Literary Digest. 

7. Scribne)-'s Magazine. 

8. Popular Mechanics. 

9. The Outlook. 

What other magazines ought the average student to know? 

16. Moulders of public opinion to-day; modern authors 

who represent a nation, a state, a city, a party etc. 

17. The systematic reader versus the passionate browser. 

18. A "culture list" of books; What books do you con- 

sider every one should know? Consult such Hsts 
in the Library as: "Hundred Best Books in the 
World," "Ten Great Novels," etc. How do you 
measure up to the standard of reading set? See 
Hamilton Wright Mabie's List; President Elliott's 
list (of Harvard) may be found in Marden's "Self- 
Investment." 

19. Making the most of the public library : 

(a) Classified lists to be found at the Library. 

Collect such leaflets as "Books of Modern 
Verse," or "Books for the Housewife" and 
many others to be found at any large library. 

(b) Tracing a topic in the reference room. 

(c) Exploring the technical room. Interest for 

the lay mind. 

(d) Using the reading room to while away odd 

moments. 

20. Reading over one's head. It doesn't hurt to tackle 

a book that is too deep for you. 

21. Types who haunt the library. 

22. Characterization of the woman at the reference desk. 

23. A grown-up in the children's room. 

24. Paging at a public library. Personal experience of 

any who have done it during the summer vacation. 



166 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Assume a Positive Point of View toward the Following 
Assertions : 

1. You are never "too busy" to read. 

2. Reading is a habit that should be cultivated young; 

otherwise you may pass the age and be too old to 
learn. 

3. Movies may take the place of general reading? 

4. Business students do not need to read much. 

5. Business men haven't time to read; they do, instead. 

6. Broad general reading helps one as a: 

salesman 

stenographer 

companion 

home-maker 

student 

7. The more j'ou read, the more 3'ou succeed. 

8. Tell me what j'ou read and I will tell you what you 

arc. 

9. Reading makes the good conversationalist. 
10. "I am too active to sit still and read." 

EXERCISES 

1. Plan a "Read More" propaganda campaign in your class 
or in your school according to the following suggestions: 

(a) Think up appropriate slogans for your library bulletin 

boards. 
(/)) Invent a special column for your school paper to be 

u.'^od for this purpose during the campaign and write 

the necessary articles, 
(c) From some of the books you have read and those your 

teacher recommends, take an interesting incident, 

conversation, saying, etc., and create a mystery 

poster, the purpose being to arouse interest in the 

reachng of the book. 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 167 

(d) Devise a contest of some sort for the stimulation of 

reading. 

(e) By clever advertising, revive or awaken more interest 

in any of the prescribed list of books in your school's 
English classes. 
(/) Make the library a popular place through advertising. 

2. In the front of your text or note book, paste a form like 
the following. With the aid of class discussion and your 
teacher's suggestion estimate what credit students should 
receive for a good record in outside reading. Should out- 
side reading be voluntary or compulsory? 



Read! 



Read 



Read! 



"Six hours each week of reading may mean the 
difference "between a $20,000-a-year execu- 
tive and a $25-a-month clerk. 



w 

E 


NEWSPAPER 




BOOKS 


PERIODICALS 


E 


Minutes per day 


_Min. 
Per 
Day 


Titles 

and 

Authors 


Min. : 


K 

s 


1st 

page 


E 

d 


Other 
Pages 


B. 
p. 


Per 

Day: 


:Titles 
























































I 




















































♦ 











































































168 


PROJECT BOOK 


IN BUSINESS 


ENGLISH 


II 






























































































































III 






























































































































IV 








































































Total 
















In Hours 

















My signature attests to accuracy of the 
above report. 

Signature 

Note: < ' 



Editorial Page. 
Back Page 



Do You Keep up with the Newest Books? 

Iiitrlligciit lliiiik(>is of t()-(l:iy wlio arc interested in modern 
tliought as it comes from the press, watch the magazines and 
newspapers for the fii'st pubhc comments on the latest books. 
Publishei*s send to all magazines which include such comments 
within their pages free copies of their recent books as ad- 
vance advertisements and solicit comments and opinions 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 169 

as a further means of advertising the book for sale. The 
author, moreover, gets his first hints as to the reception his 
book will receive at the hands of the public through these 
columns. 

Young readers will do well to frequent the back pages of 
magazines and the editorial columns of the daily newspapers 
and glean bits of information about new books. It is not 
to be expected that one will always care to read the book 
thus announced, but it is wise to be well informed about 
books as it is to be informed about current events. An 
educated person ought to know not only what is happen- 
ing in the world, but quite as much what others think 
about these happenings. It is through this contact with 
others' opinions that our own are formed. 

The following review is a typical book review and may 
serve as a suggestive form for students in their "book re- 
views." Analyze it by considering the following: 

1. What is significant about the opening paragraph? 

2. How much space proportionately is given to relating 

the story? 

3. How much to critical opinion? 

4. Is this proportion reversed in any other reviews you 

can find in magazines? 

The Kaiser as His Dentist knew Him 

Davis, Arthur N. The Kaiser as I know Him. 8vo, pp. x-301. 
New York: Harper & Brothers. $2. Postage, 18 cents. 

"No man is a hero to his valet," says the proverb. Certainly 
the Kaiser is no hero to his dentist. Dr. Davis settled in the 
practice of his profession in Berlin in 1903, first as assistant to 
Dr. Sylvester, and after January 10, 1905, independently. From 
early in 1904 the Kaiser was his patient, and, after proving the 
doctor's discretion, talked with him freely. So that if the con- 
versations are here reported correctly (and there is no reason to 
question that), they afford a view of the Kaiser's personality based 
on fourteen years of intimate intercourse. 



170 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

The first two chapters deal with the last two years, including 
Dr. Davis's escape (it almost amounted to that) in January, 1918. 
The first contains the Kaiser's pronouncement: "Davis, America 
must be punished for her actions!" Her actions, of course, in 
furnishing munitions to the Allies! But when reminded that 
Germany sold arms to Russia, the Kaiser replied: "When we helped 
Russia against Japan, we were helping a white against the yellow 
race. Don't ever forget that." America, he said, was "acting 
from purely mercenary motives" in supplying munitions. 

Dr. Davis regards the Kaiser as ha\-ing a sort of dual personahty. 
He found him trustful in his conversation even beyond the bounds 
of discretion, decidedly appreciative of humor, and himself often 
witty, usually courteous and affable, generally quite his own 
master, brave under adversity, magnetic, a man of talent and 
charm. On the other hand, Wilhelm is imperious, grandiose, self- 
opinionated, and certain of the infaUibility of his judgment, by 
turns generous and niggardly, ever posing until he has become 
"the world's most finished actor." 

A lurid light is cast on the Kaiser's ideas of international ethics 
in that he "couldn't understand why (when Great Britain was 
at war) the United States did not seize both Canada and Mexico" 
— "utilizing," the Kai.ser said, "the opportunity to serve and to 
make their own country great." What an idea of greatness! For 
reasons like these the Kaiser was "disgusted with the whole Anglo- 
Saxon race." That inhuman conduct of war is traceable directly 
to the Kaiser is shown by the latter's statement that he had sent 
a protest against tlie use of dumdum bullets by Belgians and 
French. Almost the same day President Poincare forwarded a 
similar protest against the Germans. The German use of gas 
was justified by a similar precaution. The Kaiser remarked, apro- 
pos of submarine warfare: "International law! There is no such 
thing as international law any n»ore." 

The blind side of the Kai.ser wa.s revealed in his assertion that 
English conscription was foolish bccau.se the war would be over 
l)efore the conscripts could l)e trained. And as to America — 
"How fooHsh for America to have come into the war. . . . Now 
America will have to pay all the costs of the war! . . . America 
must pay the bills." The Kai.ser condemned the American press, 
but admired Mr. Hearst. "Mr. Hearst is the only one . . . who 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 171 

has revealed the real conditions and told the truth about them. " 
As to others: "Not all your Senators are against us. Senator 
Stone, for instance, is taking a very strong neutral stand, and 
it is a pity there are not more like him." 

Dr. Davis's reminiscences cover the Kaiser's family and en- 
tourage. The Kaiser's "Colonel House" was the Prince of Pless. 
On the day when England declared war, the Prince declared, 
"The war will be over by Christmas," and five months later said, 
"Well, not this Christmas, but next"; at the end of 1915 he con- 
cluded, "I don't think the — thing will ever end!" Once more, 
February 2, 1917, he declared: "Our unrestricted submarine war- 
fare has just started, and we're going to bring England to her 
knees within three months." And again, "America won't fight 
... in Europe." Yet he spurned the complaints that we furnished 
munitions: "In the last twenty years we have supphed more 
munitions to warring nations than any other four countries in the 
world put together." 

Dr. Davis speaks of the Kaiserin; the Crown Prince and Crown 
Princess; Princes Adalbert, August Wilhelm, and Joachim (of 
whose flesh "wound" he makes quite a little fun); and of the 
German people. Of the latter he saj^s, apropos of the Lusitania 
sinking: "I have failed to find a single German who did not en- 
thuse over that dastardly crime." He continues: "The activity 
of the ZeppeUns in their raids on open towns evoked similar 
demonstrations . ' ' 

Dr. Davis's book is most informing, and contains on the whole 
a moderately told tale, with only here and there a touch of con- 
tempt and scorn and but httle bitterness. 

— From The Literary Digest, December, 1918 



EXERCISE 

Imitate the following extract using books you yourself 
know and can recommend. Note particularly the comments 
made about the books by the "bookstore lady." Pretend 
you are selling books. You may imagine your own scene. 
Do this after you have read some of the books from the 
suggested bibliograph. 



172 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

THE WOMAN FROM OUT-OF-TOWN BUYS BOOKS 

B}' Hazel Dej'o Batchelor 

{Pictorial Review for April, 1919) 

"Anj'thing good to read?" asked the woman from out-of-town 
of the bookstore lady who was arranging her books in orderly 
rows on the shelves. 

"It all depends upon what j'-ou Uke," returned the bookstore 
lady, looking up interestedly. She was alwaj^s interested in a possi- 
ble buyer. She Uked to place her wares intelhgently; in short, she 
loved her books, and she loved selMng them. 

"This time it really doesn't matter so much what I like," laughed 
the woman from out-of-town. "I'm selecting for other people. 
Here's the first on my hst, my son, Bob. He Hkes detective stories." 

The bookstore lady smiled and took a book down from the 
shelf. " Here's something good," she vouchsafed, " ' The Room with 
the Tassels,' by Carolyn Wells (Doran). I'll guarantee that he 
won't skip a page." 

"Well worked out, is it?" 

"Excellently, and not too improbable. People like facts these 
days." 

"All right, I'll take that. Now what have you for my husband? 
He likes to pick up something not too heavy just before he goes 
to bed at night." 

The bookstore lady promptly handed her another volume. 

"'The Prestons,' by Mary Heaton Vorse (Boni & Liveright)," 
read the woman from out-of-town. 

"That sounds like a book about an ordinary American family." 

"That's just what it is," approved the bookstore lady, "and it 
deals with the little cvcry-day happenings that are interesting to 
ever}' one. Just the book to pick up in an idle moment. You'll 
want that in your bookcase. You don't happen to want a book 
for j-our daughter, too, do you?" 

"Yes, she comes next," said the woman from out-of-town, 
consulting her list. 

"How about 'The Close Up,' by Margaret Turnbull? (Har- 
per's.) It's a story of a girl who unexpectedly became a moving- 
picture star. The book gives an excellent idea of life in the studio. 
Ever>' one is reading it." 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 173 

"I don't see how you knew she loved the 'movies!'" laughed the 
woman from out-of-town. "She's seventeen." 

And as though that explained it all, both women laughed 
together. 

"Well, the war is over," remarked the bookstore lady. 

"Yes, are you still selling war books? I wanted a good one for 
a friend whose son is still in France, something with a human appeal. 

"'Home Fires in France' (Henry Holt)," suggested the book- 
store lady. "It's by Dorothy Canfield. Short stories, you know, 
and every one true. I've read them all two or three times, and I 
always recommend the book." 

The woman from out-of-town glanced through the pages hur- 
riedly, and then placed it with the others. "You've been such a 
help," she said gratefully. 

"That isn't all, is it?" asked the bookstore lady. 

"Not quite, I want one for my sister. She's in business." 

"Business women always want to read about how other girls 
made good," said the bookstore lady sagely. "Here's 'A Chance 
to Live,' by Zoe Beckley (MacMillan). It's a tale about a little 
slum girl who fought out her own destiny. Do you think your 
sister would like that?" 

The woman from out-of-town nodded. "You might take two 
for your sister," suggested the bookstore lady. "Here's a new 
book that will appeal to every one in the family excepting the 
children. It is called 'A Man and a Woman,' and is by Dale 
Drummond (Britton)." 

"It sounds interesting," commented the woman from out-of-town. 

"It's more than that; it should be on every book-shelf because 
of the lesson it teaches. If I were ever inchned to be jealous I 
don't think I ever could be again after reading that book." 

"All right, I'll take it, and how about the children? Something 
for them will just round the morning out splendidly. What's 
this?" (Fingering the books on the shelf.) "0, 'The Boy Scouts' 
Year Book' (Appleton); that ought to be just the thing." 

"That book is filled with all kinds of material besides reading, 
you know," commented the bookstore lady. "Children are all 
crazy about it. And here's another that I wish you'd take for 
them, 'The Brownies and Prince Florinel,' by Palmer Cox (Cen- 
tury). It is full of dehcious nonsense." 



174 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

"All right," said the woman from out-of-town, "and that's 
aU," she finished, folding up the piece of paper. 

"Haven't you forgotten something?" 

"No." 

"Something for j'ourself?" 

"0, 1 can read all these, j^ou see. I don't need a book for myself 
alone." 

"Yes, but why not buy one specially for your own taste." 

The woman from out-of-town hesitated. "You haven't 'Out 
of the Silences," by Mary Waller (Little, Brown), have you?" 
she asked. " I love her books. They have so much to them. Some 
one told me that this one was especially good, that it traced the 
character of a boy to manhood." 

The bookstore lady took down a thick volume arid placed it on 
the pile of others. "You'll like that," she said quietly, "it's just 
the kind of a book for a real mother." 

Suggested Classified Bibliography for Special Reading 
FOR the Business Student 

Note. — Books of general reading should not he neglected. 

1 . Good Books for a Salesman. 

Atkinson, W. W.. Psycliology of Salcsman.ship 
HoLLiNGSwoRTH, H. L., Advertising and Selling; Vocational 

Psycholog>' 
Hr)RNER, W. M., Training for a Life Insurance Agent 
Marden, 0. S., Exceptional I^mployee; Selling Things 
MuNSTERDERc, HuGO, P.sychologv and Industrial Efficiency 
ScoTT, W. D., Increa-siiig Human I'>fficiency; Influencing 

Men in Business; Theory of Advertising; Psycholog.v of 

Advertising 
Seashore, C. E., P.sychology in Daily Life 
Vardaman, B. R., Ma.ster Salesman 
Whii'pi.e, i\. M., Manual of Mental and Physical Tests 

2. Books on Advertising. 

E. E. Calkins, The Business of Advertising 
Calkins & Holden, Modern Advertising 
Hollingsworth, H. L., Advertising and Selling 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 175 

Cherington, p. T., Advertising as a Business Force 
Dench, E. a., Advertising by Moving Picture 
Hall, S. Roland, How to Write an Advertisement 
French, George, How to Advertise 
Lewis, E. S., How Fortunes are made in Advertising 
Mahin, John Lee, Advertising and Selling 
Scott, W. D., Theory of Advertising; Psychology of Adver- 
tising 

3. Books on Busiaess Psychology and Character. 

Barrett, C. R., Getting a Good Job. 

Blackford, K. M. H., Analyzing Character; The Job, the 
Man, the Boss. 

Cody, Sherwin, How to Deal with Human Nature in Busi- 
ness. 

Dartnell, George, Fifteen Practical Tests used in Select- 
ing Salesmen. 

Deland, L. F., Imagination in Business. 

Eastman, G. R., Psychology for Business Efficiency. 

Fowler, N. C, Beginning right; Getting a Start; How to 
Get and Keep a Job; How to Get your Pay Raised — Un- 
derlying Principles which Lead to Promotion. 

GowiN, E. B., Executive and His Control of Men. 

Haddock, F. C, Culture of Courage; Power of Will. 

Hemingway, A. T., How to Make Good. 

HoLLiNGSWORTH, H. L., Vocational Psychology; its prob- 
lem and Methods. 

Kemble, W. p., Choosing Employees by Test. 

Lawrence, E. G., How to Improve the Memory. 

Lewis, E. S., Getting the Most out of Business. 

Marden, O. S., Everybody Ahead ; The Exceptional 
Employee; Making Life a Masterpiece; Progressive 
Business Man; Victorious Attitude 

Maxwell, W. N., If I were twenty-one 

Monroe, A. S., Making of a Business Woman 

MuNSTERBERG, HuGO, Busiuess Psychology; Psychology 
and Industrial Efficiency 

Page, E. D., Trade Morals, Their Origin, Growth and 
Province 



176 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Pierce, Frederick, Human Side of Business 

Phillips, A. E., Effective Speaking 

PuRiNTON, E. E., Efficient Living; Petain, the Prepared 

Sadler, W. S., Worry and Nervousness 

ScirvN'AB, C. M., Succeeding yviih What 5'ou Have 

Scott, W. D., Influencing JMen in Business 

Shaw, A. W. Co., Personahtj^ in Business: How to Give 

Personality to Business: Personalities that have Won 

Success 
Stockw^ell, H. G., Essential Elements of Business Character 
Thomas, K. J., Personal Power 

Whipple, G. M., Manual of INIental and Physical Tests 
Woodbridge, W. W., That Something 
WooLEY, E. M., Junior Partner 

4. The Romance of Industry. 

Lane, Mrs. Martha Allen Luther, Industries of To-day 
Gibson, Chas. R., Romance of Modern Manufacturing 
Cochrane, Robert, Romance of Industry and Invention 
Chamberlain, J. F., How Wc arc Fed. How We are Clothed 

5. Inspirational Books. 

Marden, 0. S., The Optimistic Life. Every man a King 
Seashore, C. E., Psychology in Daily Life 
Jordan, W. G., Kingship of Self-control 
Roosevelt, Theodore, A Square Deal 
Black, Hugh, Work 

6. Efficiency Books. 

GiLU H. L. II., Ildicieiit Life 

Benxeit, Arnold, How to live on 24 Hours a Day. Mental 

Efficiency. The Human Machine 
Marden, O. S., Keeping Fit 
Whipple, G. M., How to Study 

7. Vocational Biography. 
Appel, J. H., My Own Story 

Bolton, Mrs. Sarah, Famous Leaders AmongMen. Fam- 
ous Leaders Among Women. Famous Types of Woman- 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 177 

hood. Lives of Girls who Became Famous. Successful 
Women 

CoE, Fannie, Heroes of Everyday Life 

Habberton, John, Poor Boy's Chances 

Hale, E. E., Lights of Two Centuries. Stories of In- 
vention 

Houghton, W. R., Kings of Fortune 

Jefferson, Jos., Autobiogi-aphy 

Keller, Helen, Story of My Life 

Mabie, Hamilton Wright, Men Who Have Risen 

Morris, Charles, Heroes of Progress in America 

MowRY, W. A. and A. M., American Heroes and Heroism 

NicoLAY, John G., Abraham Lincohi 

Parton, James, Captains of Industry 

Pollard, Eliza F., Florence Nightingale 

Richards, L. E., Florence Nightingale 

Riis, Jacob, Making of an American 

Stoddard, W. 0., Men of Business 

Stanley, H. M., Autobiography 

Tarbell, Ida, He Knew Lincoln 

Washington, B. T., Up From Slavery 

Whitlock, Brand, Abraham Lincoln 

Choosing a Vocation. 

Alden, cm.. Women's Ways of Earning Money 

AsHMORE, Ruth, Business Girl in Every Phase of Her Life 

Bostwick, a. E., American Public Library 

Calkins and Holden, Modern Advertising 

Drysdale, William, Helps for Ambitious Girls 

Moody, W. D., Men Who Sell Things 

HuLiNG, C. A., Letters of a Business Woman to Her Niece 

Laselle, M. a., Vocations for Girls 

Lewis, E. S., How Fortunes are Made in Advertising 

Lyon, E. F., The Successful Young Woman 

Marden, 0. S., Choosing a Career 

Fowler, N. C, Starting in Life 

Hancock, H. I., Life at West Point 

Whitelaw, Reid, Careers for Common Men 

Rollins, F. W., What Can a Young Man Do? 



178 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

RiCHAEDSON, Anna S., The Girl Who Earns Her Own 

Living 
Stoddard, W. 0., What ShaU I do? 
Weaver, E. W., Profitable Vocations for Girls. 
Parson, Frank, Choosing a Vocation 
Weeks, A. D., The People's School 

9. Social Ethics. 

LiNDSEY, Ben., The Beast 

Simons, A. W., Social Forces in American History 

Riis, Jacob, How the Other Half Lives. Battle with the 
Slums 

Tarbell, Ida., Modern Business 

Weyl, W. E., The New Democracy 

Croly, H. D., The Promise of American Life 

Wells, H. G., New Worlds for Old 

Addams, Jane, Twenty Years at Hull House 

Barton, Clara, Story of the Red Cross 

Steiner, E. a., On the Trail of the Immigrant. Introduc- 
ing the American Spirit 

Van Dyke, Henry, Spirit of America 

Roosevelt, Theodore, A Square Deal. American Ideals 

Wellman, F. L., a Day in Court 

Brewer, D. J., American Citizenship 

Betts, Lilll\n, Leaven in a Great City 

Beveridge, a. J., Work and Habits 

Devun, T. C, Municipal Reform in U. S. 

Dunn, A. W., Commvniity and the Citizen 

Bryce, James, Hindrances to Good Citizenship 

Abbott, Lyman, Spirit of Democracy 

Hadlev, a. T., Standards of Public Morality 

Jordan, David Starr, Nation's Need of Men 

Shaw, Albert, Outlook for the Average Business Man 

Strong, Josiah, Challenge of the City 

Shaler, N. 8., The Citizen 

Howe, Frederick, Hope of Democracy 

Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth in the City Streets 

TAhT, William H., Civic Duty 

WiLco.x, Delos F., The American City 



THE BUSINESS STUDENT'S READING 179 

Cleveland, Grovee, Good Citizenship 
Robinson, H. P., Twentieth Century American 
Zeublin, Chas., American Municipal Progress 

Books for Stenographers 

{From list published hy Minneapolis Public Library, January, 
1918) 

Hamburgh, W. C, Talks on Business Correspondence 
Bell, D. M., & Wasson, D. A., Typewriting by the Touch Method 
BoTTOME, W. B., The Stenographic Expert 
Cahill, M. F., Office Practice 
Cody, Sherwin, How to be a Private Secretary 
Cutler, I. M. & SoRelle, R. P., Rational Typewriting 
Eberhart, C. p.. Course in Practical Business Writing 
Frank, C. L., Stenographer and Typist 
Fritz, R. L., & Eldridge, E. H., Expert Typewriting 
HoTCHKiss, G. B., & Dres, C. a.. Business EngUsh 
Hudders, E. R., Indexing and Filing 
Kilduff, E. J., Private Secretary 
Mason, W. L., How to Become a Law Stenographer 
Mills, E. C, Business Penmanship 
Owen, M. B., Secret of Typewriting Speed 
Parsons, C. C, Office Organization and Management 
Remington Typewriter Co., How to become a Successful Stenog- 
rapher 
ScHULZE, J. W., American Office 
SoRelle, R. P., Office Training for Stenographers 
Spencer, E. L., Efficient Secretary 
System Co., How to Manage an Office 

Van Benthuysen, S. D., Sentence Method of Touch Typewriting 
Watson, E. M. P., Handbook for Typists, Stenographers, and 
Literary Workers 

•Business Fiction 

Beckley, Zoe, a Chance to Live 

Barton, Bruce, Making of George Groton 

Ferber, Edna, Fannie Herself. Dawn O'Hara. Emma McChes- 

ney and Co. 
Bartlett, F. 0., WaU Street Gu-1 



180 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Nyburg, S. L., The Conquest 
Rowland, H. C, Filling His O^n Shoes 

WooLLEY, Edw. Mott, Addison Broadstreet, Master Merchant 
Ford, Sewell, Torch}', Private Secretar}^ 
Glass, Montague, Potash and Perhnutter 
Johnson, 0. M., ISIaking ]\Ioney 
Kelland, C. B., Sudden Jim 
Lewis, S., Job 

Birmingham, G. H., Gossamer 
Ch.\se, D., Flood Tide 

Dodge, H. I., Skinner's Big Idea. Skinner's Dress Suit. 
NoRRis, C. G, Salt 
Tarkington, Booth, Turmoil 
Cooke, M. B., The Threshold 
Webster, H. K., American Familj' 
O'Hen-ry, The Four Million. The Voice of the City 
NoRRis, Frank, The Pit. A Dealer in Wheat 
Poole, Ernest, The Harbor 
SiNCL.\iR, Upton, King Coal 

White, Wm. A., A Certain Rich Man. In the Heart of a Fool 
Lorimer, George Horace, Letters of a Self-Made Merchant to 
His Sou 



APPENDIX A 

The Fonn of the Business Letter 

The form of the business letter can no longer be presented 
in arbitrary fashion. So many forms are in use by business 
men of judgment and standing that it is impossible to select 
a model to be used as an absolute standard. There is coming 
to be as much freedom in deciding upon the form of a letter 
as upon the style of writing. 

In the advertising form letter we find a variety of original 
spacings. Sometimes we find the date written vertically, 
sometimes horizontally with a space between each letter of 
the word or between each figure. Sometimes the first line 
of each paragraph is "pulled out" rather than indented. 
In a long letter single spacing between fines of the para- 
graph and double spacing between paragraphs produces 
a pleasing appearance. The size and shape of the paper, 
the artistic arrangement of a small message in a large space, 
— these are details which the modern business man does 
not ignore. 

However, a few general suggestions will set forth the prin- 
ciples of form most in use. The diagram which follows on the 
next page illustrates the most prevalent arrangement of parts. 

There are two new tendencies in modern letter forms. 
Formerly all letters were arranged in "slanting" style. 
(See illustration No. 1, page 182.) A more recent style is 
known as the "block" style. (See also, page 182.) It 
seems safe to say that this form which is perhaps neater 
to the eye and more practical for the typist, will soon be 
the preferred style. 

A less prevalent innovation is the manner of punctuating 
the heading and introduction of the letter. A conservative 
business man still sees that his heading and introductions 
181 



182 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

are punctuated according to the old rules of punctuation. 
But the modern tendency to eliminate all punctuation at 
the ends of lines seems to be gaining. 



(Heading — 2 ins. below top) 



(Introduction) 



(1 in.) 
(2 ins.) 



(SaluUtion) 



(1 in.) 



(1 in.) 



(Complimentary close) 
(Signature) 



Note. — 1 Neither hendinq twr fii(jnature run into the 
T7mrgin. 

2. There is a margin at the holtom. 

The Heading (including name, a(ldres.s, business of 
writer and date). 

1. Slanting style (letter is from private individual): Note 
punctuation. 



APPENDIX A 183 

,4521 Bloom Street, 
, Omaha, Nebraska, 
yJanuary 4, 1920. 

2. Block Style: punctuation omitted at ends of lines; 

this form is preferred and used by many leading 
business houses. 

New York Hotel 

Broadway and 44th Street 

New York City 

December 1, 1919 

Note. — In this form, punctuation is used only ajter ab- 
breviations and between items on the same line as in above 
example, between name of city and name of month and between 
day of month and year. The same heading might also be 
written thus: 

New York Hotel 

Broadway and 44th St. 

New York City 

Dec. 1, 1919 

3. Letter head. Only the date has to be typewritten in. 



Kendall-Bangs 

(INCORPORATED) 

GRAIN COMMISSION 

Minneapolis, Minn. 

(Date) 

Mr. John Jones, 

43 West 22nd Street, 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Dear Sir; (etc.) 



184 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



4. If heading is long make it compact by single spacing; 
thus No. 1 is better than No. 2. 
No. 1 

The American Red Cross, 

Minneapolis Chapter, 
601 LaSalle Bldg. , 
Minneapolis, Minn. 



December 5, 1919 



No. 2 



The American Red Cross, 

Minneapolis Chapter, 

601 LaSalle Bldg. , 

Minneapolis, Minn. 

December 5, 1919 

Note. — It is becoming customary to omit the penod after 
the year. 

5. Do not separate number of house and street b}' comma: 

415 Sixth Street; not, 415, Sixth Street. 

6. Do not begin the (l:i(o to the loft of the middle of 

the pages, as: 



(wrong) March 4, 1020 



(heading) 



(right) March 4, 1920 



APPENDIX A 185 

7. The date line must clear the right edge of the paper 

by one half to three quarters of an inch. 

8. Omit d, rd, st, th, etc., after day of month. Figures 

alone are sufficient. January 5 is preferred to 
January 5th. 

9. Is^, 2nd, 15th etc., when used to designate streets do 

not need periods after them. 
10. In social notes or friendly letters the date may come at 
the end at the left margin below the signature. As : 



Dear Alice 



Sincerely yours, 

(signature) 
(Date) 



11. Avoid, 9/22/'07 etc. Say rather, September 22, 
1907. 

The Introduction (including the name, title, place of 
business or residence of person to whom letter is written) : 

1. Slanting style: 

(a) 

The Oceon Accident and Guarantee Corp. 
59 Johns Street, New York City. 

Gentlemen: 

better than 



186 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

(&) 

The Oceon Accident and Guarantee Corp. 

59 Johns Street, 

New York City, N. Y. 
Gentlemen: 

2. Block style without punctuation, where special atten- 
tion of an individual is called: 

(«) 

Mitchell Woodhury Company 
560 Atlantic Avenue 
Boston, Massachusetts 

Gentlemen: (Attention of Mr. Merrill) 

or 

Mitchell Woodbury Co. 
560 Atlantic Ave. 
Boston, Mass. 

Mr. E. W. Merrill, Manager 

Dear Sir: 

Note. — 7"/?^ first form is to he preferred. Note the dif- 
ference ill punctuatioti due to abbreviations in No. 2. Busi- 
ness is coming more and more to write out words in full. 

3. Spacing of ii long introduction. 

The Mechanics and Metals National Bank, 

New York City. 
Gentlemen: 



APPENDIX A 187 

4. Introduction with Title 

Mr. Henry K. Drake, President, 
Washington Bank, 
Dayton, Ohio. 

Dear Sir: 

5. In a social letter, the address may be written at the 

end, thus: 



4215 Sixth St. , W. , 

St. Paul, Minnesota, 
December 20, 1919 
Dear Miss Thomas, 



3842 Kimhark Ave . , 
Chicago, 111. 



Sincerely yours, 

(Signature) 



Salutations 

The salutation is the formal address. It should be followed 
by a colon (a comma in an informal letter) and should be 
flush with the margin. Usage has established the following 
common forms for the business letter: 

1. Dear Sir: (common salutation for one man). 

2. My dear Sir: (more informal than Dear Sir). 

3. Dear Mr. Brown: (used where there is personal ac- 

quaintance) . 

4. My dear Mr. Brown : (less formal than No. 3). 

5. Dear Madam : (to either married or unmarried woman) . 

6. Dear Miss Brown or My dear Miss Brown, (same as 

Nos. 3 and 4). 



188 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

7. Dear Sirs: ) i , ,■ c a 

„ „ ,, I common salutation for a firm. 

8. Gentlemen : ) 

Note that the "dear" when preceded by "My" is not 
capitahzed, and that "Sir" is. 

The body of the letter 

The following illustrations of popular arrangement wiU 
suggest a basis for artistic spacing: 

1. Short letter on full page. 



APPENDIX A 189 

2. Short letter on half sheet of paper. 



better than 



190 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

3. Long letter single spaced, double spaced between para- 
graphs : 



################ 

1rir1rjr1ririr1r1rir 



APPENDIX A 191 

4. Special form, iBrst line of paragraphs extended rather 
than indented: 



################ 
########## 



The Complimentary Close 

1. Yours truly (not Yours Truly) is the most common. 

Proper for any business letter. 

2. Truly yours, Yours very truly, Very truly yours are 

common variations of No. 1. 

3. Sincerely yours, Cordially yours, imply some friend- 

Hness in relations of correspondents. 

4. Respectfully yours. Yours respectfully, are often used 

to indicate respect for a person in higher authority. 
It is not necessary, however, to thus indicate your 
position. 



192 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

The Signature 

The use of the typewritten signature is of doubtful value. 
Some business houses typewrite the name of the firm in the 
signature and sign the initials or name of the writer, directly 
below. But since the signature of a letter to a degree meas- 
ures the care and sincerity with which the letter is written, 
one does well to make it appear genuine. 

Women sign their own names, not the names of their 
husbands, as: 

1. Mary A. Jones (Miss) or (Miss) Mary A. Jones. 

2. Mary A. Jones (Mrs. E. W.) or Mary A. Jones (Mrs. 

E. W. Jones). 

The envelope 

Slanting Style 



Attention, Mr. 



Block Style 



APPENDIX B 

GRAMMATICAL HELPS 
The Sentence 

1. Some elements of the sentence : 

(a) The phrase: a group of related words, without a 
subject or predicate. 
on the table (a prepositional phrase) 
going to the table (a participial phrase) 
to be happy (infinitive phrase) 
(6) The clause: a group of related words containing 
a subject and predicate. 
The man had no enemies (principal clause). 
When the boy ran (subordinate clause). 

2. Kinds of sentences: 

(a) The simple sentence: consists of one clause. 

On the morning of the picnic William was out of 
bed early. 
(6) Simple sentences with compound parts. 

(1) Compound subject: The man and boy 

laughed. 

(2) Compound predicate: The boy laughed and 

shouted. 

(3) Compound subject and compound predicate: 

The man and boy laughed and shouted, 
(c) The compound sentence: contains two or more 
principal clauses. 

(1) The boy laughed, but the girl cried. 

(2) The boy laughed, the man looked startled, 

and the girl began to cry. 
193 



194 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

(3) When the boy laughed, the man looked 

startled; but the girl began to smile 
brightly. 

(4) When the boy laughed, the man looked 

startled; but the girl, who had previously 
appeared nervous, now began to smile 
brightly. 

(d) The complex sentence: consists of one principal 
clause and one or more subordinate clauses. 

(1) The man who was with me is my father. 

{Who was with me is an adjectival clause.) 

(2) The boy found his book where he had left 

it. {Where he had left it is an adverbial 
clause.) 

(3) That he should laugh seemed impoHte. 

{That he should laufjh is a subordinate 
clause used as subject.) 

(4) The pupil proved that he knew his lesson. 

{That he knew his lesson is a subordinate 
clause used as object.) 

3. Common errors: If a person knows these elementary 
facts alx)ut the structure of a sentence, he should 
be able to avoid the following common errors. 

(a) Running together two or more sentences: 

Examples: I am going across the street, I'll be 
back in ten minutes. 
The boll rang, we loft the building. 

(6) Writing a phrase or subordinate clause as if it 
were a complete sentence. 
Examples: The window was opened. Making 
the room very cold. 
The pictures were very interesting. Especially 
when they showed the troops in action. 



APPENDIX B 195 

4. Most of us abuse the compound sentence, and do not 

employ often enough the useful complex type. We 
should avoid with especial care the following faulty 
forms of compound sentences. 

(a) The relation of ideas not exactly expressed: 

Bad: Yesterday I was going home from school, 
and I lost my fountain pen. 

Better: Yesterday, while I was going home from 
school, I lost my fountain pen. 

(6) Rambling compound sentences: 

Bad: We entered the main office of the foundry, 
and we met the manager, and he called a 
guide to show us through the plant. 

Better: When we entered the main office of the 
foundry, the manager called a guide to show 
us through the plant. 

Better: In the main office of the foundry we met 
the manager. He called a guide to show us 
through the plant. 

Phrases incorrectly used 

5. (a) Being deaf, the approaching car was not heard by 

the old man. 
Looking out of the window, the fire seemed near 
at hand. 
A participle should not begin a clause or sentence, unless 
it logically modifies the subject of the clause or sentence. 

Corrected: Being deaf, the old man could not hear 

the approaching car. 
Looking out of the window, I thought the fire 

seemed near at hand. 

(b) The crowd grew impatient, caused by the delay. 



196 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

(The sentence contains no word which the phrase can logi- 
cally modify.) 

Corrected: The crowd manifested the impatience 
caused by the delay. 

Pronouns 

1. The word to which a personal or relative pronoun 

refers should always be definitely expressed. 
Bad: (a) John told his father he would be interested 
in the book. 
(6) John chewed gum, which annoyed his father. 

(c) John asked where his father was. I could 

not answer that. 

(d) In many schools they have good gymnasiums. 

(e) It tells about Indians in Cooper's "Deer- 

slayer. 
Corrected: (a) John said to his father, "I shall be 
interested in the book." 
(6) John's gum-chewing annoyed his father. 

(c) John asked where his father was. I could 

not answer that question. 

(d) In many schools there are good gymnasiums, 

or 
Many schools have good gymnasiums. 

(e) Cooper's "Deerslayer" tells about Indians. 

2. Number: The pronoun agrees in number with its 

antecedent. 

Note. — The following indefinite pronouns are singular: 
each, either, neither, another, much, one, everij one, some one, 
aught, naught, anybody, everybody, nobody, anything. 

These are plural: several, some, many, others, both, few. 
These are sometimes singular: sometimes plural: more, 
most, all, any, such. 



APPENDIX B 197 

Right: Each boy must have his book. 
Every one must have his book. 
Everybody had his book. 
Neither of the boys had his book. 
Nobody in the crowd had protected himself. 

3. Case: Sometimes we find ourselves confused as to the 
case of a pronoun. The following examples illus- 
trate the most common sources of confusion: 

(a) Nominative case. 

Subject of elhptical clause: John was as tired 
as I (not me). 

Compound subject: Father and I will go. 

Subject of a relative clause: The judge re- 
fused to pardon the prisoner who, he had 
every reason to believe, was guilty of the 
crime. 

Predicate substantive: It is I; Is it we that 
you fear? 

Appositive: The guests, John and I, were 
given presents. 

(6) Objective case. 

Subject of infinitive: The letter declared him 

to be happy. 
Predicate substantive : My father thought the 

culprit to be me. 
Object of the verb : Whom do you see? 
Object of the verb: John is the boy whom we 

see. 
Object of preposition : Give the book to John 

and me. 
Object of preposition: There is no one here 

except John and me. 
Appositive: Our host gave presents to the 

guests, John and me. 



198 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Adjectives and Adverbs 

1. After such verbs as look, feel, sound, taste, smell, 

seem, appear, stand, hold, etc., it is sometimes 
difficult to determine whether to use an adjective,. or 
adverb. If the word following the verb describes 
the subject, it should be an adjective; if it describes 
the verb, it should be an adverb. 

Right: He looks sad (i.e. looks to be a sad man). 
He feels gentle. 

The music sounds loud (i.e. is loud music). 
The apple tastes sour. 
The rose smells siceet. 
The men seem happy. 
The man appears good (i.e. appears to be a 

good man). 
He stands firm. 

She holds it steady (i.e. holds it so that it is 
steady) . 

Right: He looks about sadly. 

He feels the smooth surface gently. 

The music sounds loudly through the room. 

He tastes the sour apple slouiy. 

The rose sweetly perfumes the air. 

The actor played his part happily. 

The man appoai-s icell on the stage. 

He stands firmly on his feet. 

She holds it steadily (i.e. in a steady manner). 

Notice that in the first group the verb usually can be 
changed to some form of to be. He is sad, etc. In the 
second group the verbs indicate a manner of action. 

2. Notice the following cases. 

Good and well. Good is an adjective. Well is both an 
adjective and an adverb. 



APPENDIX B 199 

Examples: Lincoln was a good man (adjective). 
John is not well to-day (adjective). 
John did his work well (adverb). 

Real and very. Real is an adjective; very is ordinarily 
an adverb. 

Examples : I am very glad to see you. 
He is a real man. 

Look up in the dictionary the meaning of real, and really. 
"Real glad to see you" is ungrammatical; "really glad to 
see you" does not mean very glad to see you. 

Some and somewhat. 

Wrong: John is some better. 
Right: John is somewhat better. 

Kind of and sort of should not be used as adverbs. 
Wrong: It is kind of close in this room. 
Right: It is rather (somewhat) close in this room. 

3. Illogical comparison. 

Wrong: John has a higher grade than any pupil. 
Right: John has a higher grade than any other pupil. 
Wrong: John has the highest grade of any pupil. 
Right: John has the highest grade of all pupils. 

Verbs 

1. In order to use tense forms correctly, a person must 
know the principal parts of all the verbs he uses. 
The dictionary should be consulted when doubt 
arises. The following list gives the principal parts 
of most of the verbs which cause trouble. In the 
case of these so-called irregular verbs, there is no 
royal road to mastery. The principal parts must 
be memorized so perfectly that the wrong form can- 
not arise. 



200 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 



Present 


Past 


Past Participle 


awake 


awoke 


awaked 


bid 


bade 


bidden 


bid (to offer) 


bid 


bid 


blow 


blew 


blown 


burst 


burst 


burst 


choose 


chose 


chosen 


dive 


dived 


dived 


do 


did 


done 


drink 


drank 


drunk 


drive 


drove 


driven 


eat 


ate 


eaten 


flee 


fled 


fled 


flow 


flowed 


flowed 


fly 


flew 


flown 


freeze 


froze 


frozen 


go 


went 


gone 


hang (execute) 


hanged 


hanged 


hang 


hung 


hung 


lay 


laid 


laid 


lie 


lay 


lain 


loose 


loosed 


loosed 


lose 


lost 


lost 


prove 


proved 


proved 


ring 


rang 


rung 


rise 


rose 


risen 


see 


saw 


seen 


set 


set 


set 


sit 


sat 


sat 


sink 


sank 


sunk 


sow 


sowed 


sown 


swing 


swung 


swung 


take 


took 


taken 


threw 


throw 


thrown 


wake 


waked 


waked 


wear 


wore 


worn 



APPENDIX B 201 

2. Shall and Will. 

(a) Simple expectation on the part of the speaker is 
expressed thus : 

I shall (should) we shall (should) 

thou wilt (wouldst) you will (would) 

he will (would) they will (would) 

Wrong: I think I will be able to go. 
Right: I think I shall be able to go. 
Right: I think he will be able to go. 

(6) Determination, desire, or promise on the part 
of the speaker is expressed thus : 

I will (would) we will (would) 

thou shalt (shouldst) you shall (should) 

he shall (should) they shall (should) 

Right: I will go. 

Right: I will see that they shall go. 

(c) In contingent subordinate clauses use shall and 

should for all persons. 

Right: If they should go, I should be pleased. 
Right: If John should do that he would do 
wrong. 

(d) In a question: 

For the first person always use shall or 
should. 

Note. — In repeating a question to the speaker this rule 
does not hold. Example: "Will I be happy? Yes, of 
course." 

For the second and third persons use the form which will 

be used in the reply. 
Expectation: Shall you win, do you think? 
Intention : Will you take the lead? 



202 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

3. An infinitive should be in the present tense unless it 
marks time prior to that of the governing verb. 
Wrong: It was not necessary for you to have spoken. 
Right: It was not necessary for you to speak. 
Wrong: I expected to have written. 
Right: I expected to write. 



APPENDIX C 

A DIGEST OF PUNCTUATION 

The period (.) is used : 

1. After a complete sentence (excepting exclamatory and 

interrogative sentences) . 

The man walked down the street. (Declarative sen- 
tence.) 
Do as I tell you. (Imperative sentence.) 

2. After abbreviations, as: 

etc., i.e., Mrs., Dr., Pres. 

The question mark (?) 

Use the question mark after: 

1. A direct question. 

What is your name? 

2. A doubtful fact. 

In 852 B.C. {f) the king died. 

The exclamation mark (!) 

The exclamation mark is used after exclamatory words and 
phrases and sentences expressing strong emotion. 
What a beautiful lake! 
Stop! You are hurting me. 

The Comma (,) 

1. To set off a noun of address: 

Well, Mary, how are you? 
203 



204 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

2. To set off nouns and phrases in apposition : 

The next visitor, my aunt, stayed over an hour, 
"We next went to New York, the largest city in the 
country. 

Exception to the above rule : 

Henry the Third. In this case the Third is a part of 
the regular title. In all similar cases the commas 
are omitted. 

3. To set off absolute phrases: 

My work all done, I set about to enjoy the rest of 
the day. 

4. To set off a parenthetical phrase, or word: 

(a) We will never, / dare say, invite him again. 
(6) The party, however, was a great success. 

Note. — In case the parenthetical expression is a whole 
sentence use parentheses () or else the dash ( — ). 

The story I am going to tell — no doubt you have heard 
it before — is about the war. 

5. To separate geographical names; 

Kansas City, Missouri. 

6. To separate coordinate clauses connected by and, but, 

for, etc., when clearness demands it. 

(a) She wore a little brown turban trimmed with 

fur, and a veil that partially concealed the 
merry eyes l^ehind it. 
Note. — -4 comma is necessary after "fur" in order that 
it may not read "trimmed mth fur and a veil." 

(b) He cried a.s loudly as he could, for his mother 

used to relent at the sound of his sobs. 
Note. — Without the comma it wmdd read, "cried as 
loudly as he could for his mother." 



APPENDIX C 205 

7. To set off clauses that precede the principal clause of 

the sentence : ' 

Right: When it snows very much, I wear my boots. 
I weal' my boots when it snows very much, 

8. To set off non restrictive clauses or phrases: 

Arbutus Valley, which was some two miles further 
on, was the goal we had set for our hike. 

9. To separate two adjectives that modify the same noun 

provided they are coordinate in thought. 

(a) A kind old man. 

(6) A charming, gracious hostess. 

Note. — In (a), "kind" modifies "old man." 

10. In a series a, b, c,. d, etc., a comma should precede the 

conjunction: 

There were bachelors, spinsters, married men, and 
widowers. 

Note. — Without the conima after "men" it would seem 
that "married men and u/idowers" were in a special grouping 
by themselves. 

11. To separate the^^he said" etc;, from the rest of a 

direct quotation. ' > 

"Come here," he said sharply. 

Common Misuses of the Comma 

1. Over-punctuation: Poor: In the house, I found, a 

visitor. 

2. Before that, how, etc. Poor: They told us, how we 

would be disappointed. They warned us, that we 
would be disappointed. 

3. Except between clauses that are veryshort and have 

nO commas within themselves, a comma cannot be 
used when the coordinate conjunction is omitted 



206 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

Right: The boys laughed, the girls giggled, and the 
Uttle babies cried in fright. 

Wrong: The whole house seemed gloomy, I was not 
at all sure I was going to enjoy Hving in the room 
assigned to me, it was so dark and severely fur- 
nished. 

The Semicolon (;) 

A semicolon is used : 

1. Between the principal clauses of a compound sentence 

when the conjunctions are omitted : 
Th£ fruit of ignorance is folly; its taste is bitter in 
the mouth. 

2. Between the principal clauses of a compound sentence 

when these are pointed with commas: 
When the day dawned, we set forth on our way re- 
joicing; but, hardly had we entered the forest, when 
trouble overtook us anew. 

3. Between a series of long phrases or clauses: 

(a) / have sought happiness in the field and in the 
study; at home and abroad; in action and in 
contemplation; in empty solitude and in the 
crowded city; in the halls of princes and in 
the huls Of peasants. 

(6) He assured me that he did not intend to press the 
mutter; that he had no further interest in its 
outcome; that he would not interfere with my 
efforts, and that, indeed, he would be happy to 
see me succeed. 

The Colon (:) 
A colon is used : 

1. Before a list of items which is formally announced: 
He was renowned for the following attributes: his 
strength, his courage, his ferocious temper, and his 
indomitable will. 



APPENDIX C 207 

2. Before a long quotation : 

Benjamin Franklin has said: "(long quotation)." 

Parentheses Marks ( ) 

1. To inclose figures or letters employed to mark divi- 

sions, as (a) (b) etc. 

2. To inclose matter which does not strictly belong to 

the sentence : 

/ will set their alarm clock {assuming that they have 

such a thing in the house) and meet you promptly 

at six o'clock. 

Brackets [ ] 

As a rule the words in brackets belong to an editor or to a 
reporter. In newspaper columns we might find, for example, 
some interpolation by the editor set off in brackets. 
. . . [Loud hurrahs from the gallery] . . . 

Apostrophe ( ' ) 
The apostrophe is used : 

1. To indicate the possessive case, John's hat (singular) 

and the boys' hats (plural). 

2. To indicate the plural of letters and figures : mind your 

p's and q's. 

3. To show the omission of letters : What's in a name? 

The Hyphen (-) 

No rules can be given for knowing when a compound word 
should be separated by a hyphen; one must learn what is 
correct in individual cases. The dictionary will settle all 
doubts. 

Quotation Marks ( " " ) 
Are used: 
1. To inclose direct quotations: 

(a) Right: "Will you go with me?" the man asked. 



208 PROJECT BOOK IN BUSINESS ENGLISH 

(6) Right: We all know the words of Lincoln, "You 
cannot fool all the people all the time." 

(c) Right: "I am wiUing," he said slowly, "to under- 
take the leadei*ship." 

V 2. Minor uses of quotation marks : 

(a) To inclose titles : 

Scott's "Ivanhoe." 

Rembrandt's "The Man with the Glove." 

Note. — hi printed titles italics are usually used in place 
of quotation marks. 

(b) To indicate questionable forms of expressions: 

The class expected a "quizz." 

(c) To indicate words or phrases used merely as a 

word or phrase: 

The word "and" is a conjunction. 

Note. — In printed matter italics are frequently used for 
this purpose. 

The Dash ( — ) 
Use the dash : 

1. To mark a sudden change in thought. 

/ want to help you — surely you will not object. 

2. For particular emphasi.s: 

/ am sick — yes, sick unto death. 

3. As a suljstitute for parentheses marks: 

/ was silent — you may find it difficult to believe, but 
it is true — through the whole interview. 

4. To set off a series of appositives: 

He had three dogs — o setter, on aircdale, and a 
Boston terrier. 



APPENDIX C 209 

5. Before the summarizing statement of a long sentence: 

That the country might he wisely governed, that its 
ideals should be high, that its engagements should 
be kept vnth honor, that its citizens should be loyal 
— these were the things for which he prayed. 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Accuracy in business and the classroom 13 

Adjectives 198 

Adverbs 198 

Advertising appeals to our instincts 128 

Advertising, books on (bibliography) 174 

and salesmanship 124 

dramatic 149 

fables in 147 

facts about 135 

importance of words in 137 

letter in school advertising 153 

letter applied to outside reading 155 

personal 159 

psychology of 126 

repetition in 127 

specialties 15^ 

Advertisement, an original (illustration) 38 

Analogy, reasoning by 61 

Apostrophe, use of : 207 

Application, letters of, to write 117 

Authority (in debate) 58 

Authorship, honesty of 44 

Book review 169 

Books, do you keep up with the newest? 168 

Brackets, use of 207 

Brief, the 62 

Business idioms 90 

Business man: what would he expect of a student of business? ... 14 

Business of going to school . . \ 1 

Business of learning to write 14 

Circumstantial evidence 58 

Classroom, a place of business 15 

211 



212 INDEX 

Code, business, for the classroom 6 

Coinage of words 130 

Comma, use of 203 

Comma, misuses of 205 

Complimentary close in business letter 191 

Correspondence in business 90 

Correspondence of high school student 109 

Credit and wages 4 

Creed, The Salesman's 10 

Criticisms: can you make definite ones ? 49 

Dash, use of 208 

Diamond egg carrier (illustration) ..... . '. 132 

Diamond Crj-stal Salt (advertisement) . . .'."! ."'. . '.'. 142, 143 

Employees, students and 3 

Employers, teachers and 2 

EngUsh: better EngUsh for the business student 69 

English: outUne for self-help for better English 73 

Envelope of business letter 192 

Error slip (diagram) 18 

Error sheet (diagram) IS 

Errors, common; "They look like trifles, but. — " . . 86 

Evidence, circumstantial 58 

Evidence, kinds of 56 

E.\clamation marks, use of 203 

Facts and inferences .55 

Facts: using observed facts as basis for imagination 29 

Fiction, business • 179 

Form of business letter . 181 

(Jrammatical helps 103 

CSraph of term's work (diagram ) .19 

Heading of business letter • 182 

"Hoard about the house" (quotation) . .72 

•'Here is u real mystery" (quotation) .67 

"His Ma.ster's \'<)ico" (illu.stration) l-i4 

Honesty of authorship 44 

"Hours of work " (quotation) *. 66 

Hj-phcn. u.so of 207 

Idioms, bu.sincss 90 



INDEX 213 

"if" (quotation) 9 

Imagination, basis of 26 

Imagination, chance to exercise 30 

Imagination in business 20 

Imagination redeems routine 24 

Imitation 43 

Individuality in business 41 

Inferences, facts and 55 

Instincts: advertising appeals to our instincts 128 

"Interiors" (illustration) 131 

Introduction of business letter 185 

Judgments, forming independent 49 

Learning to write, business of 14 

Letter, business: block style 183, 186 

body of 188 

complimentary close 191 

envelope 192 

form 181, 182 

heading .: 182 

introduction 185 

salutation ' .'. 187 

signature 192 

Letter writing, originaUty in 96 

Letter of apphcation 114 

Letters of application to write .;.... 117 

Letters to write for practice 110 

Logical inference 59 

"Looking for a position" (quotation) 118 

Making others see what you see 33 

Management, problems in business 17 

Observation, basis of imagination 26 

Opening sentences of letter of application 116 

Originality in business 37 

Originality in letter writing 96 

Outside reading, advertising letter applied to 155 

Outside reading, form for record of 167 

Parenthesis marks, use of 207 

Parliamentary law, discussion according to 63 



214 INDEX 

Period, use of 203 

Personal advertising 159 

Personal interview ■ 118 

Personal letter 122 

Phrases, incorrectly used 195 

Position, looking for a 118 

Positive attitude of mind 46 

"Power-controlled Power" (illustration) 125 

Power of words to suggest thoughts 77 

Power to convince 51 

Practice in oral salesmanship 161 

Practice, letters to write for 110 

"Prometheus" (illustration) 22 

Pronouns 196 

Pronunciation 74 

Proof 54 

Propaganda, "Read More" 166 

Psychology: books on business psychology (bibliography) 175 

Psychology of advertising 126 

Public, teaching the student 136 

Punctuation, digest of 203 

Question mark, use of 203 

Quotation marks, use of 207 

Reading, the business student's 163 

Reading, outside; form for record of 167 

" Read More " campaign 166 

Reasoning by analogy 61 

References, magazine 39 

Repetition in advertising 127 

" Resolved " (quotation) 12 

Routine, imagination redeems 24 

Salesmen, good books for (bibliography) 174 

Salesmen, what I have observed about 160 

Salesman's Creed, The 10 

Salesmanship 160 

Salesmanship, practice in oral 161 

Salutation in business letter 187 

School, business of going to 1 

Seeing what the other fellow sees 31 

Semicolon, use of 206 



INDEX 215 

Sentence, structure of 193 

Sentences, better 82 

Sentences, closing, in letters of application 117 

Sentences, opening, in letters of application 116 

Shall and will 201 

"She Forgot" (one-act advertising play) 150 

Signature in business letter 192 

Slogan, the 132 

Stenographers, good books for (bibliography) 179 

Story, use of, in advertising; " Winning by story" 144 

Students and employees 3 

Teachers and employers 2 

Teaching the student public 136 

Tense, exercises in 89 

"Time to Retire" (illustration) 133 

Understanding the issue (in debate) 53 

Verbs 199 

Vocabulary, increasing one's 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 

Wages, credits and 4 

"Woman out of town buys books" (quotation) 172 

Words, coinage of 130 

Words, importance of, in advertising 137 



